[Jan Roelof Prakken, editor-in-chief of the Dutch Journal of Medicine 1955-1970].

Jan Roelof Prakken (1897-1982) worked as a family physician before specializing in dermatology. In 1946, he was appointed professor of dermatology and venereal diseases at the University of Amsterdam. In 1955 he became editor-in-chief of the Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde (Dutch Journal of Medicine). He proved to be a progressive editor. Contrary to his predecessors and despite opposition from many readers, Prakken was of the opinion that sociomedical topics such as oral contraception, artificial insemination, abortion, and even sex change operations were of importance to physicians and had to be discussed in the Journal.