Legesse Wolde-Yohannes (

Amharic Amharic is an Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amhara people, and also serves as a lingua franca for all other metropolitan populati ...

: ለገሠ ወልደዮሓንስ; born January 19, 1936) is an Ethiopian

horticultural Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...

scientist. He cooperated with Aklilu Lemma on the discovery and research of how to use the plant endod as a means of preventing the parasitic disease

bilharzia Schistosomiasis, also known as snail fever, bilharzia, and Katayama fever is a neglected tropical disease caused by parasitic flatworms called schistosomes. It affects both humans and animals. It affects the urinary tract or the intestines ...

. He was awarded the

Right Livelihood Award The Right Livelihood Award is an international award to "honour and support those offering practical and exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges facing us today." The prize was established in 1980 by German-Swedish philanthropist Jakob vo ...

in 1989, jointly with Lemma, ''for discovering and campaigning relentlessly for an affordable preventative against

''.

Career

During Wolde-Yohannes' career, he provided an affordable solution to a fatal illness or

schistosomiasis Schistosomiasis, also known as snail fever, bilharzia, and Katayama fever is a neglected tropical helminthiasis, disease caused by parasitism, parasitic Schistosoma, flatworms called schistosomes. It affects both humans and animals. It affects ...

, which can be fatal, is often found in continents like Asia and Africa and affects more than 200 million people. He worked with another Ethiopian doctor ( Aklilu Lemma) to help produce more research on Schistosomiasis. He found that this disease was so common in Africa because it was found in Soapberry. This is a plant that is commonly used as soap in Africa, but it has a potent molluscicide. Although this was useful research, it only provided a cure to a small portion of people suffering from

. He yearned to help more people suffering from the disease, so he found other scientists and doctors to run more field and laboratory trials. He was later able to get this plant grown in multiple countries for control of Schistosomiasis. Along with he persistent research, Legesse Wolde-Yohannes was also an associate professor of biology at

Addis Ababa University Addis Ababa University (; AAU) is a national university located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It is the oldest university in Ethiopia. AAU has thirteen campuses. Twelve of these are situated in Addis Ababa, and one is located in Bishoftu, about away. ...

in Addis Ababa Ethiopia. He also serves as a director of the National Endod Foundation. In 1999 after a long career of research, Wolde-Yohannes become a senior advisor on endod and medicinal plants to the EthioAgri-CEFT Private Limited Company. He works to promote agrobotanical studies on endod, and makes other medicinal plants available for large scale production for local and international marketing.

Awards and recognition

In recognition of his scientific achievements, Wolde-Yohannes was awarded the Golden Medal by the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

, Norway in 1989. He also received the Golden Medal and Certificate of Merit from

in 2000.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wolde-Yohannes, Legesse 1936 births Living people Ethiopian scientists Horticulturists