Dr. Zebulon Mennell Sr. (1850–1911)<ref>Dr. Zebulon Mennell Sr. at [https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/255599006/zebulon-mennell FindAGrave.com]</ref> was a British physician of general practice based in London. He is noted for having treated [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky]] during the final years of her life.
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== Life and Work==
Mennell was born in Yorkshire in a family of a doctor and a Quaker.<ref>Ryan J.F. ''Zebulon Mennell'', British Journal of Anaesthesia, 26:1 (1954): 42-47, ISSN 0007-0912, https://doi.org/10.1093/bja/26.1.42., https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0007091217485783</ref> He studied medicine at St. Thomas's Hospital, London,<ref>J.F.R. ''Zebulon Mendell [Obituary]'', ANESTHESIA, 14-2 (April 1959): 210-212. https://associationofanaesthetists-publications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1365-2044.1959.tb13770.x</ref> received his Licentiate from the Institute of Pharmacy in 1879, and was a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons.
He resided at Royal Crescent, Notting Hill, London, where he maintained his medical practice. Prior to his work in London, Mennell held official appointments abroad, serving as physician to the La Guaira Port Corporation in Venezuela and to the Gu Appantu Mining Company in West Africa.
Mennell died at St. Thomas's Hospital in 1911 at the age of sixty. One of his sons, Dr. Zebulon Mennell Jr., became an outstanding anesthetist and the other, Dr. James Beaver Mennell, made his career in physiotherapy.<ref>Ryan J.F. ''Zebulon Mennell'', British Journal of Anaesthesia, 26:1 (1954): 42-47, ISSN 0007-0912, https://doi.org/10.1093/bja/26.1.42., https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0007091217485783</ref>
== Publications ==
== Work with H.P. Blavatsky ==
=== Periodicals ===
In his obituary in the magazine ''Sophia'' of the Theosophical Society in Spain, Menell was called ''Médico, Amigo y Discípulo de H.P.B.'' (Physician, Friend, and Disciple of H.P.B.). According to the author of the obituary:
=== Pamphlets ===
<blockquote>Dr. Mennell, an eminent man of science, was H. P. B.'s physician during the last years of her life, and it is thanks to him that the founder of the Theosophical Society remained among us in physical form for a few more years, since, as is well known, H.P.B., who suffered from three very serious illnesses, should have died much earlier, according to official science.
Selected titles:
H.P.B. never wanted to see any other doctor than Dr. Mennell, for whom she had great affection and whom she considered a loyal friend and disciple.
That Dr. Mennell was an occultist is beyond the slightest doubt in my mind, and in the minds of all those he sought to cure. His contempt for money and his veneration for H.P.B. were well known, as I was told by H.P.B.'s old and loyal friend, the late Countess Wachtmeister.
Dr. Mennell, who used to visit H. P. B. in the evenings, would remain at her side when everyone else had left at the hour she had appointed (eleven o'clock at night, if my memory serves me correctly), and then H.P.B. would teach her doctor and friend... ''(Translated from Spanish)''<ref>J.X.M. '''"In Memoriam" del Dr. Z. Mennell. Médico, Amigo y Discípulo de H.P.B.''' ''ΣΟΦΙΑ. Revista Teosofica.'' No. 9 (Sept 1911), 601-602. Available at [https://iapsop.com/archive/materials/sophia_spain/sophia_1911_n9.pdf IAPSAP]</ref></blockquote>
== Notes ==
== Notes ==
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<references/>
[[Category:Nationality English|Wood, Hilda]]
== Additional resources ==
[[Category:People|Wood, Hilda]]
* S.R. Ranganathan in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S._R._Ranganathan Wikipedia]
