Saul Adler FRS ( he, שאול אדלר; May 17, 1895 – January 25, 1966) was an Israeli expert on parasitology.

Early life

Adler was born in 1895 in Kerelits (

Karelichy Karelichy ( be, Карэлічы, Kareličy; russian: Коре́личи, ; lt, Koreličiai; pl, Korelicze; yi, קארעליץ, ''Korelitz'') is a town in the Grodno Region of Belarus and the administrative centre of Karelichy District. The t ...

), then in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, now in

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

. In 1900, he and his family moved to England and they settled in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

. He studied at

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

and the

Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) is a higher education institution with degree awarding powers and registered charity located in Liverpool, United Kingdom. Established in 1898, it was the first institution in the world dedicated ...

. One of his brothers was Solomon Adler, the economist.

Career

From 1917 until 1920, Adler served in the Royal Army Medical Corps, attaining the rank of captain, serving in the Middle East, where he developed his first taste into research into tropical medicine, which he commenced studying after his military service, initially in Liverpool. In 1921, Adler went to

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

to conduct research into Malaria. In 1924,

Chaim Weizmann Chaim Azriel Weizmann ( he, חיים עזריאל ויצמן ', russian: Хаим Евзорович Вейцман, ''Khaim Evzorovich Veytsman''; 27 November 1874 – 9 November 1952) was a Russian-born biochemist, Zionist leader and Israe ...

offered him a job in Jerusalem to develop the new Institute of Microbiology. Later that year, he emigrated to

Mandate Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 i ...

and started working in Hadassah Hospital, becoming director of the department of parasitology in 1927. In 1924, he became Assistant Professor of the Department of Parasitology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, serving as Professor from 1928 to 1955. In 1930, in conjunction with Israel Aharoni, Adler had three Syrian

hamster Hamsters are rodents (order Rodentia) belonging to the subfamily Cricetinae, which contains 19 species classified in seven genera.Fox, Sue. 2006. ''Hamsters''. T.F.H. Publications Inc. They have become established as popular small pets. The ...

s brought back from Syria and successfully bred them as laboratory animals. This led to the

domestication of the Syrian hamster The domestication of the Syrian hamster began in the late 1700s when naturalists cataloged the Syrian hamster, also known as ''Mesocricetus auratus'' or the golden hamster. In 1930 medical researchers captured Syrian hamster breeding stock for an ...

. In the 1940s he was a leader in developing a leishmaniasis vaccine using live parasites, a practice widespread in Israel and Russia until the 1980s, when large-scale clinical trials showed that the practice led to long-term skin lesions, exacerbation of psoriasis, and immunosuppression in some people.

Education

* University of Leeds, MB, ChB, Leeds, 1917; * Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, DTM, Liverpool, 1920; * MRCP 1937; * FRCP 1958.

Honours

* In 1933, Chalmers Medal of the

Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, more commonly known by its acronym RSTMH, was founded in 1907 by Sir James Cantlie and George Carmichael Low. Sir Patrick Manson, the Society's first President (1907–1909), was recognised as "t ...

(London). * In 1944, elected Chairman of Free Faculty of Medicine of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. * In 1947, received

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) * In 1957, awarded the Israel Prize, for medicine. * In 1957, elected

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...

(London). He was the first Israeli citizen to be elected. * In 1965, awarded

Honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

from the

. * In 1966, received the Solomon Bublick Award of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. * Awarded the Order of the Phoenix, (

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

). * He also received the

Tchernichovsky Prize Tchernichovsky Prize is an Israeli prize awarded to individuals for exemplary works of translation into Hebrew. History The Tchernichovsky Prize is awarded by the municipality of Tel Aviv-Yafo.

for exemplary translation, for his translation of ''

The Origin of Species ''On the Origin of Species'' (or, more completely, ''On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life''),The book's full original title was ''On the Origin of Species by Me ...

'' by

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...

Achievements

*He helped find the cure for malaria. *A street in Jerusalem is named after him. *A room in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem was built in his honour. *His portrait appeared on a stamp in Israel in 1995. *He proposed that Charles Darwin's 'mystery illness' was Chagas Disease (American trypanosomiasis). Although this diagnosis has now been disproved, this proposal did much to excite interest in Darwin's chronic ill health.

Death

Saul Adler died in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

on 25 January 1966. His funeral was attended by the President of Israel.

Published works

* In 1925, he published ''Sand Flies to Man'', a book on the Transmission of Leishmaniasis. * In 1960, he translated Charles Darwin's ''The Origin of Species'' into Hebrew.

References

External links

* Eva Telkes
Dictionnaire biographique de la première génération de professeurs de l’Université hébraïque de Jérusalem

''Bulletin du Centre de recherche français de Jérusalem'' 2.1998 (Sample entry: "Shaul" Adler). {{DEFAULTSORT:Adler, Saul 1895 births 1966 deaths British emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Medical doctors from Leeds English people of Belarusian-Jewish descent Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians Fellows of the Royal Society Israel Prize in medicine recipients Officers of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Order of the Phoenix (Greece) Israeli Jews Jewish British scientists Jews in Mandatory Palestine People from Karelichy Royal Army Medical Corps officers Jewish physicians Israeli microbiologists Jewish microbiologists Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United Kingdom Members of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities Jews from the Russian Empire Solomon Bublick Award recipients British Army personnel of World War I