THE HAWAIIAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY

presents

Anatomia, 1838:
The First Medical Textbook in the
Hawaiian Language

Esther T. Mookini
May 8, 2003

The Hawaiian Historical Society invites its members and friends to a special program, Anatomia, 1838: The First Medical Textbook in the Hawaiian Language, presented by Esther T. Mookini.

The program will take place on Thursday, May 8th, 2003, at the Kana‘ina Building (Old Archives Building) on the grounds of ‘Iolani Palace. Refreshments at 7:00 p.m., business meeting and program at 7:30 p.m. The program is free and open to the public.

Esther (Kiki) Mookini will share with the audience her work in translating Anatomia into English, the circumstances leading up to the original publication of Anatomia in 1838, and the insights she gained into its author, Dr. Gerrit P. Judd.

A medical missionary from Boston, Dr. Gerrit P. Judd, arrived in Hawai‘i in 1823. He quickly realized that he needed both assistance and assistants. He wrote to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) in Boston requesting that medical books and medical supplies be sent to the various mission stations throughout the Islands. One of these books may have been Jerome V. C. Smith’s 288-page Class Book of Anatomy, Designed for Schools, 1834, which Judd used as a model for his 60-page Anatomia.

Judd wrote the text to teach basic anatomy to Hawaiians attending Lahainaluna. The work is not a direct translation of Smith’s book: the Hawaiian explanations and descriptions were in Judd’s own words and were intended to relate to his Hawaiian students and their experiences. Judd’s desire was to train native Hawaiians in Hawaiian at Hawai‘i’s first medical school and then send them to all parts of the kingdom to practice medicine. The Kingdom of Hawai‘i gave him a grant to open such a school in 1870. His first class consisted of ten Hawaiian men, who went out to practice after two years of instruction. Sadly, in the third year of the school’s existence, Judd died and with him the medical school.

Esther T. Mookini is a Hawaiian language teacher and translator, having taught at Kapi‘olani Community College. Since her retirement, she has volunteered at the Judiciary History Center, translating court documents. Ms. Mookini is also a co-author of Place Names of Hawai‘i along with Samuel H. Elbert and Mary Kawena Pukui.

The Society’s annual business meeting will be held before the evening lecture to present the president’s report for 2002–2003 and to elect new trustees and the president for 2003–2004.

Anatomia, 1838, by Gerrit P. Judd, Hawaiian Text with English Translation by Esther T. Mookini, University of Hawai‘i Press, 2003. 191 pages, illus. Cloth retail $26.00. Members’ 20% discount price $20.00. Priority mail postage Hawai‘i $5.00, mainland $6.50, international $9.00. This new publication includes the English translation by Esther T. Mookini as well as a facsimile reproduction of the original 1838 Hawaiian text. Mookini will be available at the membership program to autograph copies.

For further information about the program, contact Karen L. Sinn (hhskaren@lava.net) at the Hawaiian Historical Society, 560 Kawaiahao Street Honolulu, HI 96813. Phone and fax: (808) 537-6271.