Endre Czeizel (3 April 1935 – 10 August 2015) was a Hungarian physician, geneticist, public health administrator, and professor. He was a physician who graduated from

Semmelweis University Semmelweis University (Hungarian language, Hungarian: ''Semmelweis Egyetem'', ) is a research-led medical school in Budapest, Hungary, founded in 1769. With six faculties and a doctoral school it covers all aspects of medical and health sciences. ...

. He was known for discovering that vitamin B9 or

folic acid Folate, also known as vitamin B9 and folacin, is one of the B vitamins. Manufactured folic acid, which is converted into folate by the body, is used as a dietary supplement and in food fortification as it is more stable during processing and ...

prevents or reduces the formation of more serious developmental disorders, such as neural tube defects like

spina bifida Spina bifida (SB; ; Latin for 'split spine') is a birth defect in which there is incomplete closing of the vertebral column, spine and the meninges, membranes around the spinal cord during embryonic development, early development in pregnancy. T ...

. He issued some of his English-language publications under the name ''Andrew E. Czeizel''. He was the Hungarian Director of

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

(1984-?). From 1996 thru 1998 he was the Director-General of the Hungarian National Institutes of Health. He died from

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

following a successful bone marrow transplant after approximately one year.

Personal life

In 1958, he married Judit Gerőfi, by whom he fathered two sons, Gábor and Balázs, and a daughter, Barbara. After 12 years of marriage Judit died; he later remarried to Erzsébet Mécs, whose daughter Andrea he raised. By his mistress Dóra, he fathered two illegitimate children, András and Fanni. Czeizel's son-in law is Gábor Fodor, the leader of the Hungarian Liberal Party.

Awards

*Markusovszky Prize (1970, 1973) *SZOT Prize (1977) *The Hungarian Republic, Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit (1995) *Kennedy Award (2000) *The Hungarian Cross of the Order of Merit (2005)

References

1935 births 2015 deaths Hungarian gynaecologists Hungarian geneticists Hungarian Roman Catholics Hungarian obstetricians Physicians from Budapest Deaths from leukemia Deaths from cancer in Hungary {{Hungary-med-bio-stub