Mukarakate and Gilbert Blane: Difference between pages

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'''Sir Gilbert Blane''' ([[29 August]] [[1749]] - [[26 June]] [[1834]]) was a [[Scotland|Scottish]] physician who instituted health reform in the British navy. Born in Blanefield, [[Ayrshire]], he studied [[medicine]] at [[Edinburgh University]] before moving to [[London]], where he served as private physician to [[George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney | Lord Rodney]]. Blane accompanied Rodney to the [[West Indies]] in 1779.

Mukarakate is a place in the north-eastern Murehwa district of [[Zimbabwe]]. The district is in [[Mashonaland East]] province of Zimbabwe, and is sometimes spelt as Mrehwa, Murewa or Mrewa. It is almost entirely inhabited by [[Shona]]-speaking people (specific dialect: [[Zezuru]]). The traditional rulers of the area are the [[Nhowe]] people, whose chieftainship is called Mangwende. A lot of the Nhowe people use Mukarakate as a surname, because it is the name of the of a great-great-ancestor of the tribe. Their [[totem]] is 'Moyo Muzukuru', which uses the bull as its symbolic animal. However, in practice, the tribe strictly holds only the heart of the animal as sacred, not the whole animal.

Blane did much to improve the health of sailors by heeding their diet and enforcing due sanitary precautions. Largely due to his advocacy, the entire navy in [[1795]] made the use of [[Lime (fruit)|lime]] juice obligatory to prevent of scurvy. Enjoying a number of court and hospital appointments, he built up a good practice for himself in London, and the government constantly consulted him on questions of [[public hygiene]]. In [[1812]] he became a baronet in reward for services he rendered in connection with the return of the [[Walcheren expedition]]. His works include ''Observations on the Diseases of Seamen'' (1795) and ''Elements of Medical Logic'' (1819). Blane died in London.

In modern day Zimbabwe, the surname is still widely used in the area.

==References==

*{{1911}}

[[Category:1749 births|Blane, Gilbert]]

[[Category:1834 deaths|Blane, Gilbert]]