Sir Arnold Theiler KCMG (26 March 1867 – 24 July 1936)

Pour le Mérite The (; , ), also informally known as the ''Blue Max'' () after German WWI flying ace Max Immelmann, is an order of merit established in 1740 by King Frederick II of Prussia. Separated into two classes, each with their own designs, the was ...

is considered to be the father of

veterinary science Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in non-human animals. The scope of veterinary medicine is wide, covering all animal species, both ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. He was born in Frick, Canton Aargau,

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. He received his higher education, and later qualified as a veterinarian, in

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

. In 1891, Theiler travelled to South Africa and at first found employment as a farm worker on Irene Estates near Pretoria, owned by Nellmapius, but later that year started practising as a veterinarian. His success at producing a

vaccine A vaccine is a biological Dosage form, preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious disease, infectious or cancer, malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verifi ...

to combat an outbreak of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

among the miners of the

Witwatersrand The Witwatersrand (, ; ; locally the Rand or, less commonly, the Reef) is a , north-facing scarp in South Africa. It consists of a hard, erosion-resistant quartzite metamorphic rock, over which several north-flowing rivers form waterfalls, w ...

brought him an appointment as state veterinarian for the

Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek The South African Republic (, abbreviated ZAR; ), also known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer republic in Southern Africa which existed from 1852 to 1902, when it was annexed into the British Empire as a result of the Second ...

, in which capacity he served during the

Anglo-Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic an ...

of 1899–1902. During this period his research team developed a vaccine against

rinderpest Rinderpest (also cattle plague or steppe murrain) was an infectious viral disease of cattle, domestic water buffalo, and many other species of even-toed ungulates, including gaurs, African Buffalo, buffaloes, large antelope, deer, giraffes, wilde ...

, a malignant and contagious disease of cattle. His tremendous energy, pioneering spirit and professional integrity brought him international recognition. He described in 1919 what is now known as Theiler's disease, a major cause of acute hepatitis in horses.Theiler A (1919) Acute liver-atrophy and parenchymatous hepatitis in horses. The Fifth and Sixth Reports of the Director of Veterinary Research. Department of Agriculture, Union of South Africa (The Government Printing and Stationery Office, Pretoria, Union of South Africa), pp7–164 This disease is now known to be caused by a parvovirus. Theiler was the first Director of the Onderstepoort Veterinary Research Institute, outside

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

. This institute under his leadership carried out research on African horse sickness,

sleeping sickness African trypanosomiasis is an insect-borne parasitic infection of humans and other animals. Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), also known as African sleeping sickness or simply sleeping sickness, is caused by the species '' Trypanosoma b ...

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

, East Coast fever ('' Theileria parva'') and tick-borne diseases such as redwater,

heartwater Heartwater (also known as cowdriosis, nintas, and ehrlichiosis) is a tick-borne rickettsial disease. The name is derived from the fact that fluid can collect around the heart or in the lungs of infected animals. It is caused by ''Ehrlichia rumina ...

and

biliary A bile duct is any of a number of long tube-like structures that carry bile, and is present in most vertebrates. The bile duct is separated into three main parts: the fundus (superior), the body (middle), and the neck (inferior). Bile is requ ...

. The

University of Pretoria Faculty of Veterinary Science The Faculty of Veterinary Science is a faculty of the University of Pretoria. Founded in 1920, it is the second oldest veterinary faculty in Africa. With the exception of the faculties in Khartoum (Sudan, 1938), and Cairo (Egypt, 1946), all ...

was established there in 1920 which enabled veterinarians to train locally for the first time. Theiler became the first

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean * Dean Sw ...

of this faculty. He married Emma Sophie Jegge (1861–1951) and had two sons and two daughters, the younger two of whom worked at Onderstepoort: Hans (1894–1947), a veterinarian; Margaret (1896–1988), a teacher; Gertrud (1897–1986), a

parasitologist Parasitology is the study of parasites, their hosts, and the relationship between them. As a biological discipline, the scope of parasitology is not determined by the organism or environment in question but by their way of life. This means it f ...

and

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

; and Max Theiler (1899–1972), a Nobel laureate in 1951 in Physiology and Medicine.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Theiler, Arnold 1867 births 1936 deaths South African scientists South African veterinarians Academic staff of the University of Pretoria South African people of Swiss descent South African Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Presidents of the Southern Africa Association for the Advancement of Science Swiss emigrants to South Africa Immigrants to the South African Republic University of Zurich alumni