From “great names” to life stories: reflections on biographical writing in studies of the history of medicine and public health

Abstract

When analyzing the studies on the history of medical and health practices, it is possible to see that biographical approaches stand out in the interpretations of the formation of medical specialties about the construction of knowledge and teaching and care institutions. In this sense, a strand of historiography sought to build a sort of pantheon of “great names” in the history of Medicine, while, in recent years, many studies sought to reposition biographical approaches based on new theoretical-methodological assumptions. Therefore, the article analyzes some of the different approaches applied in the biographies produced by researchers interested in the history of Health and Medicine in Brazil, with special attention to the historiographic production undertaken from the second half of the 20th century. In addition, at the end, the uses of biographies from the interdisciplinary proposals of Public Health in its connection with History are debated.