Harold Griffith

Who was Harold Griffith?

Harold Randall Griffith was a Canadian anesthesiologist and a leader in the fields of anesthesiology.

He was born in Montreal, the son of Alexander Randall Griffith, a medical doctor and homeopathic practitioner. His own medical studies at McGill University were interrupted by World War I, when he was awarded the Military Medal for bravery at Vimy Ridge. He graduated from McGill University in 1922, later became the first President of the Canadian Anaesthetists' Society, and the first elected president of the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists.

To supplement his medical degree, he studied homeopathy at the Hahnemann Medical College in Philadelphia. He joined his father in private practice, specialising in anaesthetics and on his death in 1936 succeeded him as medical director of the Montreal Homeopathic Hospital, where he was noted for the precision of his clinical records. His brother James Griffith, medical doctor|was also a medical doctor, surgeon in chief at the same hospital from 1937 to 1966.

He introduced use of ethylene and cyclopropane into Canadian anaesthetic practice.