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Elsner, John (John Leopold), Dr., 1844-1922

 Person

Biography

John Elsner was born in Vienna on May 4, 1844. His father, Joseph David Elsner, was a leader in the Hungarian Revolution and the family had to flee from Slovakia after the revolution failed in 1948. Elsner graduated from the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary and in 1866, he graduated from the Bellevue Hospital Medical College in New York. That same year, he joined a wagon train crossing the plains to Colorado. Dr. John Elsner was one of the early doctors and was Denver’s first Jewish physician. John Elsner married Lena Zalinger in Denver in 1867 and their daughter Rosalinde was born in 1870. Fifteen years later, John and Lena Elsner adopted Edward, the youngest member of a troupe of actors who passed through Denver. John Elsner was appointed Denver County physician and was a prime mover in the establishment of Denver's first general hospital (now Denver Health). He also helped set up Denver’s Gross College of Medicine. He had a busy private practice, which included treating gunshot wounds. His patients included Blacks, Chinese, and Native Americans. Dr. Elsner traveled the Rocky Mountain region as a mohel to perform the traditional Jewish rite of circumcision. In 1871, he and ten other early Denver doctors organized the Denver Medical Society. Dr. Elsner with other Jewish leaders founded the Hebrew Benevolent Association of Denver. Highly active in the Jewish and general community, he served as the president of Denver's B'nai B'rith chapter in 1874. Elsner was an incorporator of National Jewish Hospital for Consumptives in 1890 and served on the hospital's first medical advisory board. John Elsner was a founding member of Congregation Emanuel. John Elsner died in Denver in 1922 and Lena Elsner died in 1929.

Found in 4 Collections and/or Records:

Blazing the Trail: An Early History of Denver’s Jewish Community, 2009

 Item
Identifier: B230.03.0023.00008
Abstract

Brief description of several early Jewish leaders of commerce, philanthropy, religion, and community as well as several Jewish lawyers, doctors, merchants, and politicians in Colorado.

Dates: 2009

Box 1, 1869-1905

 File — Box B186.01.0001: Series B186.02; Series B186.01 [Barcode: U186020738500]
Identifier: B186.01.0001
Abstract

Contains copies of records of circumcisions performed by Dr. John Elsner in the Rocky Mountain region. His travels included Colorado towns of Boulder, Blackhawk and Leadville. He also performed circumcisions in Wyoming and New Mexico. The xerox copies of the records are faint and difficult to read.

Dates: 1869-1905

Circumcision Records, 1869-1905

 File
Identifier: B186.01.0001.0001
Abstract

Contains records of circumcisions performed by Dr. John Elsner in the Rocky Mountain region. His travels included Colorado towns of Boulder, Blackhawk and Leadville. He also performed circumcisions in Wyoming and New Mexico. Most of xeroxed records are faint and hard to read.

Dates: 1869-1905

Civilizing the West: Early Colorado Jews in the Arts, 2011

 Item
Identifier: B230.03.0023.00010
Abstract

Brief biographies of Jewish artists, musicians, composers, and conductors in Colorado. Jewish influence on arts in Colorado.

Dates: 2011