The inscription reads: "To my darling, with sincere love and devotion." It is likely that he gave this to Diana Cooper during their courtship. In an oral history interview (by Don Schanche, Tape 17, September 10-11, 1972, pp. 37-47) DeBakey related that he'd started dating Diana during his residency at Tulane; she was doing graduate work in nursing and working at Charity Hospital part time. She went to Paris to spend a year at the American Hospital there in 1935; DeBakey went to Strasbourg to work with Rene Leriche later that year, and would visit her in Paris when he could. The couple married when he returned from Germany in 1937. DeBakey did not mention dating anyone else seriously during his medical training.
Copyright:
This item may be under copyright protection; contact the copyright owner for permission before re-use.