New York Physician Honored by France with Legion Award

Dr. Samuel Kopetzky, prominent New York physician, was honored by the French government today with the bestowal upon him of the title Knight of the Legion of Honor. The title was awarded Dr. Kopetzky for his collaboration in medical work with French scientists.

“Naturally I am delighted with having been honored by the French government”, Dr. Kopetzky told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, when informed of the award, “but until I am officially notified there is nothing else I can say.”

Dr. Kopetzky, who was born in 1876, has had a distinguished career in medicine. He was educated in the New York public schools and studied at the Manhattan Eye and Ear Hospital. After his graduation, he studied in Berlin. On his return to New York, he began his researches in meningitis. In 1912, he received the medal of the American Otological Society for his research in Otolaryngology. During the World War, Dr. Kopetzky served as a Colonel in the Medical Corps of the American Expeditionary Forces. While with the 81st Division, he was cited for gallantry in action in the Argonne forest.

Of late Dr. Kopetzky has been engaged in research of the pertosal pyramid, which he described as “the penultimate lesion in the train of events leading from the middle ear to meningitis.”

Dr. Kopetzky, who is very active in Jewish movements, is primarily interested in Palestine. He is an active worker on the American Physicians Committee, and was one of the three American physicians who purchased the land on Mount Scopus for the Medical Department of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He also takes part in the work of the Federation for the Support of Jewish Philanthropic Societies.

Dr. Kopetzky is president of the medical board of Beth Israel Hospital; editor of the Medical Week, issued by the County Medical Association, and Speaker of the House of the State Medical Society.