James Addison Halsted

Dr. Halsted was married to Franklin D. Roosevelt's only daughter, Anna, from 1952 until her death in 1975. Dr. Halsted maintained a professional interest in the health of Presidents, particularly his father-in-law's, and wrote several articles on the subject. From 1958 to 1960, he was a Fulbright Professor of Medicine at the Nemazee Hospital in Shiraz, Iran, where he and an associate, Dr. Ananda Prasad, studied dwarfism among peasants. This research led them to relate zinc deficiency to retarded growth. He also did a study on vitamin B-12 absorption and intestinal protein loss. Dr. Halsted was born in 1905 in Syracuse and graduated from Harvard University in 1926 and Harvard Medical School in 1930. He served in World War II in North Africa and Italy. He did research on psychosomatic illness among soldiers in combat, for which he won the Legion of Merit award. From 1964 to 1971 Dr. Halsted worked for the headquarters of the Veterans Administration. He retired as Associate Chief of Staff for Research in 1971. He then worked in private practice in Hillsdale, N.Y. He moved to Brookline in 1982. His marriage to Anna Roosevelt Boettiger was his second and her third. From 1930 to 1951, Dr. Halsted was married to the former Isabella Hopkinson, now of Cambridge, Mass. His third wife, Diana Hopkins of Reston, Va., is the daughter of Roosevelt's aide and friend, Harry Hopkins. In addition to his wife, he is survived by five children, Elinor Moore of Boston, Thomas Halsted of Manchester, Mass., Dr. Charles Halsted of Davis, Calif., Isabella Halsted of Amherst, Mass., and John Boettiger of Amherst, Mass.; two sisters, Frances Jameison of Rhinebeck, N.Y., and Ruth Chace of Woodstock, Vt.; a brother, Lawrence Halsted of Detroit, and 11 grandchildren.