Uniquely Among the Arts

Oliver Wolf Sacks was born on July 9, 1933, in Cricklewood, London, to a family deeply rooted in medicine and science. His father, Samuel Sacks, was a physician, and his mother, Muriel Elsie Landau, one of the first female surgeons in England. Sacks studied medicine at The Queen’s College, Oxford, earning a BA in physiology and biology in 1956 and completing his clinical training in 1958. Early exposure to anatomy and his family’s scientific background shaped a lifelong interest in the workings of the mind. After completing his medical studies, Sacks moved to North America in 1960, eventually settling in the United States, where he spent most of his career.

Oliver Sacks is widely known for his work in neurology and for his writing, which explored the lives of people with neurological conditions. His 1973 book Awakenings, based on his treatment of post-encephalitic patients at Beth Abraham Hospital in the Bronx, received wide recognition and inspired a film in 1990. His writing blended clinical knowledge with personal narrative, making complex medical conditions more understandable. Other notable works include The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, An Anthropologist on Mars, and Musicophilia, each highlighting the ways individuals adapt to neurological changes.

Sacks valued both scientific accuracy and the lived experience of his patients. His writings often focused on the unusual capabilities that can emerge through illness or impairment. He taught and practiced medicine for decades, with faculty positions at institutions including the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NYU, and Columbia University. In his final years, Sacks wrote more openly about his personal life, including his relationship with writer Bill Hayes. Diagnosed with terminal cancer in early 2015, he faced death with openness and reflection. He died on August 30, 2015, in New York City at the age of 82, leaving a lasting contribution to both science and literature.