In Memoriam: Dr. Paul Potter
Dr. Paul Potter
Born April 3, 1944, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; died April 3, 2025 in his home in London, Ontario, Canada.
Predeceased by his parents Joseph C. Potter in 1992 and Iola Mary Potter (Walker) in 2003, and his sister Martha Slattery (Potter) in 2005. Leaving to keep him in loving memory his spouse Beate Gundert; nephew Christopher Slattery; sister-in-law Doris Gundert, nephew-in-law David Gundert and niece-in-law Hannah Gundert.
Paul Potter was appointed Jason A. Hannah Professor at the University of Western Ontario, London, Canada in 1974 and served as Chair of the Department of History of Medicine from 1991 until his retirement in 2011. After graduating M.D., C.M. at McGill University in 1968, he turned to a full-time study of the Classics, first at McMaster University in his native city (M.A. 1970), then, after a year at the University of Toronto, at Christian-Albrechts-Universität in Kiel, Germany (Dr. phil. 1973). In 1974 Paul Potter became a member of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Western Ontario; in 2016 he was elected to the Royal Society of Canada.
Paul carried out research in several areas of Medical History with a primary commitment to the ancient Greek medical writings, in particular those transmitted under the name of Hippocrates of Cos. His editions and translations have appeared in the Corpus Medicorum Graecorum (Akademie Verlag: Berlin, 1980) and the Loeb Classical Library (Harvard University Press: Cambridge, MA, 1988-2025).
In his long teaching career from 1974-2011, continuing after his retirement at King's College and as volunteer teacher at the German Language School London, Paul taught a wide variety of students transmitting to them the infinite appreciation of the joy of understanding that had been sparked in him by his teachers, in particular Margaret Thomson at Hill Park SS (Latin and Greek Club) and Douglas Young, Mc Master University (classics), both in Hamilton, Ontario, and his thesis director, Hans Diller, Christian-Albrechts-University, Kiel, Germany.
Paul shared with his wife his love of beauty both in the natural world and the world created by human genius and craftmanship, in particular art and architecture, and his passion for travelling, hiking and exploring archeological sites. He was a frequent visitor at auctions, used book stores and antique stores.
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