The Way We Were: Dr. Robert Greenblatt was Augusta's Renaissance man

In the mid-1930s, a tall, young Canadian drove to Georgia to take a job with the medical college in Augusta.

Decades later, Dr. Robert Greenblatt would recall he thought the South was a land of  "magnolia trees, plantations, beautiful perfect people."

He said he drove his beige and red roadster through South Carolina and arrived in Augusta via the Fifth Street Bridge. He turned right on Reynolds Street and was surprised.

"Reynolds wasn't even paved in those days," he said in a 1982 interview. "Both sides of the street were lined with little wooden houses, one row after another of them. Just little shanties. I thought, 'Where are the magnolias?' "

It turned out that it was Greenblatt who blossomed.

For the next half century in Augusta, he became an internationally celebrated researcher in human reproduction, fertility and contraception. He developed a sequential birth control pill and pioneered many medical breakthroughs including some in treating venereal diseases.

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A native of Montreal, he came to Augusta as a young research fellow at the Medical College of Georgia and rose to a professorship and chairman of the MCG endocrinology department, one of the nation's first, which he helped create in 1946. When he retired, he became a professor emeritus and lectured in Europe and America.

"I wouldn't leave Augusta for the world," he told The Chronicle in 1978. "It's easier to live. There is time for research and study here. I don't have to go to as many society functions."

He was known as a dedicated physician to his patients. Local families would remember how he would go out of his way to provide special treatment. Many Augusta couples were able to start their own families because of Greenblatt's efforts.

His international awards were both numerous and noteworthy. Not only did he receive the Israeli Peace Prize, but also the French Legion of Honor. In 1985 a reproductive clinic in Bordeaux, France, was dedicated to him. He was inducted into the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

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In his spare time he edited or authored 23 books, including one of his last, "Sex and Circumstances," which discussed the sex lives of famous men through history – from King David to Thomas Jefferson, from Napoleon to President John Kennedy.

Although Greenblatt was a doctor dedicated to treating the problems of his patients, his research skills into the sexual practices of well known historic and biblical figures made him a popular author and speaker.

He offered historical research reasons for why Queen Elizabeth I, of England, was "The Virgin Queen," or why Joan of Arc was such an aggressive warrior. His book "Search the Scriptures" looked at the intimacies of biblical characters and was quite popular.

To those with whom he worked, however, he was more than a charming public speaker and lecturer, he was a mentor and an inspiration.

"His primary concern was the health of women," said Dr. R. Don Gambrell after Greenblatt's death in 1987. "He devoted his life to making the world better for women.

"He has done research to teach other physicians to treat those hormone problems and has trained over 80 research fellows from every major country in the world," Gambrell said.

"Even in the twilight of his life when a man could be resting on his laurels, he was doing active research and coming up with new ideas," Gambrell said.

Greenblatt, himself, once explained what drove him.

"I am possessed of boundless energy," he told The Chronicle in the 1970s. "Why not use it for the good of my fellow man?"

Bill Kirby has reported, photographed and commented on life in Augusta and Georgia for 45 years.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Augusta's Dr. Greenblatt was pioneer in birth control pills, fertility