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Bonica (John J.) papers
Biomed.0118
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Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: John J. Bonica papers
Creator:
Bonica, John J.
Identifier/Call Number: Biomed.0118
Physical Description:
137 Linear Feet
(137 cubic-foot cartons, ten oversize flat boxes, six 3"x5"x12" boxes, one 4"x6"x12" box, seven letter-size document boxes,
and one legal-size document box.)
Date (inclusive): 1938-1996
Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Language of Material: Materials are in English.
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Folders in Box 135 and ledgers in Box 154 are restricted.
Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use
Information on permission to reproduce, quote, or publish is available from the History and Special Collections Division.
Property rights to the physical objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright,
are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright
and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
[Identification of item], John J. Bonica Papers (Collection 118). Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library History and Special
Collections for the Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles.
UCLA Catalog Record ID:
9942357443606533
Abbreviations Used in the Container List and Collection
- AAThe Academy of Anesthesiology
- AAASAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science
- AAMCAssociation of American Medical Colleges
- AANAAmerican Association of Nurse Anesthetists
- AAPMAmerican Academy of Pain Medicine
- AAPMgmtAmerican Academy of Pain Management
- AAUPAmerican Association of University Professors
- ABAAmerican Board of Anesthesiology
- ACAAmerican College of Anesthesiologists
- ACCPCAmerican College of Clinical Pharmacology and Chemotherapy
- ACPAmerican College of Physicians
- ACPAAmerican Chronic Pain Association
- ACSAmerican College of Surgeons
- ADSAAmerican Dental Society of Anesthesiology
- AHAAnesthesia History Association
- AMAAmerican Medical Association
- AOAAlpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society
- AORNAssociation of Operating Room Nurses
- APSAmerican Pain Society
- ARCAnesthesia Research Center
- ARNMDAssociation for Research in Nervous and Mental Disease
- ARNMSAssociation for Research in Nervous and Mental Disease
- ASAAmerican Society of Anesthesiologists
- ASCMAmerican Society of Chinese Medicine
- ASCPTAmerican Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics
- ASNSAmerican Society for Neuroscience
- ASPETAmerican Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
- ASRAAmerican Society of Regional Anesthesia
- AUAAssociation of University Anesthetists
- AUPAssociated University Physicians
- CCGRCCancer Control Grant Review Committee
- CSACalifornia Society of Anesthesiologists
- FASFederation of American Scientists
- FASEBFederation of Societies of Experimental Biology
- FHCRCFred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
- FSARMFederation of Societies of Anesthesiologists of the Republic of Mexico
- GMPGeneral Medical Research Program. Project Committee
- HEWDepartment of Health, Education and Welfare
- IARSInternational Anesthesia Research Society
- IASPInternational Association for the Study of Pain
- ICAInternational College of Anesthesiologists
- ICSInternational College of Surgeons
- ICSOGInternational Correspondence Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
- IPFInternational Pain Foundation
- ISOInternational Organization for Standardization
- ISPInternational Symposium on Pain
- JJBJohn J. Bonica
- KCMSKing County Medical Society
- LIULong Island University
- MENDMedical Education for National Defense
- MOPManagement of Pain
- NCCGRCNational Cancer Control Grant Review Committee
- NCINational Cancer Institute
- NIAIDNational Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
- NICHDNational Institute of Child Health and Human Development
- NIDANational Institute on Drug Abuse
- NIDRNational Institute of Dental Research
- NIGMSNational Institute of General Medical Sciences
- NIHNational Institutes of Health
- NINCDSNational Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke
- NPFNational Pain Foundation
- NWSANorthwest Society of Anesthesiologists
- NYSSANew York State Society of Anesthesiologists
- OAAObstetric Anesthetists Association
- PPOBAAPrinciples and Practice of Obstetric Analgesia and Anesthesia
- SAACSociety of Academic Anesthesia Chairmen
- SMAMexican Society of Anesthesiology
- SOAPSociety for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology
- TGHTacoma General Hospital
- UNUnited Nations
- UWUniversity of Washington
- WFSAWorld Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists
- WHOWorld Health Organization
- WSSAWashington State Society of Anesthesiologists
John J. Bonica (1917-1994), called "pain relief's founding father" by
Time magazine (11 June 1984), was an academic and clinical anesthesiologist, educator, and founder of the International Association
for the Study of Pain.
Bonica was born February 16, 1917, to a prominent family in Filicudi, a small island in Italy. His parents, Antonio and Angela,
were middle-class, his father serving both in the Italian army during World War I and as deputy mayor of the island. Despite
a comfortable and peaceful existence in Filicudi, Antonio, disturbed by Italy's emerging fascism, decided to move the family
to America, and emigrated by himself in 1925. In 1928, the Bonica family joined Antonio in Brooklyn, New York, losing their
considerable savings in the process. Antonio died in 1932, leaving John, 15 years old and the only son, to support the family
by working several jobs. A collegiate wrestler, Bonica began his most lucrative odd job in 1936: wrestling professionally.
He was able to support his family and finance his education through wrestling and working as a carnival "strong man" in the
summers, and eventually became light heavyweight champion of the world (1941) under the name Johnny "Bull" Walker. He continued
wrestling until 1950, well after he needed the money it brought him. Ironically, the sport that financed Bonica's medical
schooling, allowing him to make so many advances in the field of pain management, was ultimately responsible for chronic hip
and shoulder pains that resulted in numerous operations and lifelong discomfort.
Bonica's interest in medicine began early, while he was still a boy on Filicudi. He studied pre-medicine at Long Island University
and at New York University, from which he graduated in 1938 with a B.S. He was then an honor student for four years at the
Marquette University School of Medicine. After receiving his M.D. degree in 1942, he married his long-time fiancée, Emma Louise
Baldetti, and began a war-shortened internship and specialty training in anesthesiology at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York
City. Immediately upon finishing this training, Bonica was assigned to head the anesthesiology section of Madigan Army Hospital
at Fort Lewis, Washington, where he was also in charge of training physicians and nurses in anesthesiology before they were
sent overseas.
After the war, in 1947 he went to work as Chief of Anesthesia at Tacoma General Hospital and Pierce County Hospital in Tacoma,
Washington, where he co-founded the Washington State Society of Anesthesiologists (WSSA) and helped to found the Northwest
Society of Anesthesiologists (NWSA), eventually being elected to the presidency of both societies. At this time he also began
work on his 1,500 page monograph
The Management of Pain, which was published in 1953 and soon came to be considered the "bible" of pain diagnosis and therapy. Additionally, Bonica
was teaching anatomy (from 1948) and anesthesiology (from 1955) at the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle.
In 1960 Bonica decided to leave private practice in Tacoma to accept the Chairmanship of the newly created Department of Anesthesiology
at the University of Washington. Shortly after assuming this position, he, along with a nurse and a neurosurgeon, founded
the UW Multidisciplinary Pain Clinic, the model for similar clinics throughout the world. He continued as Professor and Chairman
of the Department of Anesthesiology until 1977, and as Chairman Emeritus and Professor from 1978-1987. He continued working
at UW as Professor and Chairman Emeritus until 1992.
In 1973 he organized an International Symposium on Pain, a six and one-half day program that attracted over 350 scientists
and health professionals from 13 countries who represented most of the basic science and clinical disciplines. In addition,
Bonica suggested the founding of both an international association devoted to the study of pain and an international multidisciplinary
journal. The following year the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) was officially founded; its journal,
PAIN, was first published in 1975. In 1980, Bonica was elected president of the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists
at its 7th World Congress, held in Hamburg, Germany.
Bonica wrote and edited 41 books, was a collaborator and contributor to 60 other books, and wrote almost 300 scientific articles,
two-thirds of which were devoted to pain research and therapy. Bonica's many honors include a degree of Doctor of Medical
Science (honoris causa) by the University of Siena, Italy, a Doctor of Science degree from Northwestern University, the Silver
Medal by the Swedish Medical Society, the Gold Medal for Neuroscience from the German Neurophysiologic Society, and the Gold
Medal from the Italian Algologists. He was elected Honorary Fellow of the Faculty of Anaesthetists of the Royal College of
Surgeons, a group that is limited to 20 members worldwide. In 1967 he was made Commander and two years later, Grand Officer
of the Knights of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy --the latter being the highest award given by the President
of the Republic to foreign nationals. More recently, he was made Hereditary Knight in the Noble Order of Cingolo Militare
at the rank of Baronet by Prince Cesare d'Altavilla/Napoli/Sicilia.
In 1990 he was honored by Pope John Paul II for his contribution to improve the welfare of people worldwide, and the Pope
requested a copy of the second edition of the two-volume
The Management of Pain, published that year, for his private library. Bonica considered his greatest honor to be the establishment by the University
of Washington of the John and Emma Bonica Endowed Chair for Anesthesiology and Pain Research, which is to remain in perpetuity.
John J. Bonica died on August 15, 1994, following his wife of fifty-two years by just over a month. They are buried in Seattle,
and are survived by their four children, Angela, Charlotte, Linda, and John.
The bulk of the collection pertains to Dr. Bonica's professional activities in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Early materials
in the collection include notes from medical school, circa 1938-1940, and correspondence continues until immediately prior
to Bonica's death. Additional post-mortem correspondence by his secretary follows. The collection contains manuscript notes,
data, and correspondence; slides from presentations; original publication illustrations; audio and video tape reels; scrapbook
items;and some personal and conference photographs. Major subjects covered in the collection include pain and its management,
pain clinics, clinical and academic anesthesiology, and obstetric analgesia and anesthesia. Bonica's experience with the foundation
of the International Association for the Study of Pain and the American Pain Society, close involvement with the World Federation
of Societies of Anaesthesiologists, directorship of the University of Washington's Department of Anesthesiology and Multidisciplinary
Pain Clinic, and work as Chief of Anesthesia at Tacoma General Hospital are also reflected in the collection. Frequent correspondents
include Thomas Hornbein, John S. McDonald, Patrick D. Wall, and John D. Loeser.
See the detailed series descriptions for further information.
The Bonica papers were processed in 1996-1998 by David C. Gartrell with assistance from Heidi Sandstrom in 1997. The collection
is organized into ten major series. Brief descriptions of each series may be found within the table of contents under series
description within a scope and content note.
Pain oral history project volume one. Available at Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library History and Special Collections for the Sciences, UCLA.
Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user
interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides
a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive
processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.
Processed by David C. Gartrell and Heidi Sandstrom.
We are committed to providing ethical, inclusive, and anti-racist description of the materials we steward, and to remediating
existing description of our materials that contains language that may be offensive or cause harm. We invite you to submit
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Subjects and Indexing Terms
Anesthesia, Obstetrical. (MeSH)
Anesthesia. (MeSH)
Anesthesiology. (MeSH)
Pain clinics -- Washington. (MeSH)
Pain Clinics. (MeSH)
Pain -- therapy. (MeSH)
Pain. (MeSH)
American Pain Society
Bonica, John J.
Hornbein, Thomas F.
International Association for the Study of Pain.
Loeser, John D. (John David)
McDonald, John S.
Tacoma General Hospital.
University of Washington. Department of Anesthesiology
University of Washington. Multidisciplinary Pain Center
Wall, Patrick D.
World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists.