Eugene Roland Kellersberger (August 6, 1888 – January 28, 1966) was an American physician who was a pioneer in the treatment of

leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve damag ...

and a missionary surgeon in Africa. In addition to his medical research, he fought to reduce the stigma of leprosy.

Biography

Kellersberger was born in Cypress Mill, Blanco County, Texas to Julius Rudolph Kellersberger and Helene Matern. He was educated at Whitis Academy in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

, and received his B.A. from the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

in 1911, followed by his M.D. in 1915 from Washington University School of Medicine. For his work in the

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964. Colo ...

, he was awarded the Chevalier

Royal Order of the Lion The Royal Order of the Lion (french: Ordre Royal du Lion; nl, Koninklijke orde van de Leeuw) was established by King Leopold II of Belgium on 9 April 1891, in his capacity as ruler of the Congo Free State, and was awarded for services to t ...

in 1936, the Chevalier

Royal Order of the Crown The Order of the Crown (french: Ordre de la Couronne, nl, Kroonorde) is a national Order (decoration), order of the Belgium, Kingdom of Belgium. The Order is one of Belgium's highest honors. History The Order was established on October 15, 189 ...

in 1940, and Officer of the Royal Order of the Crown in 1957.

Archival collections

The

Presbyterian Historical Society The Presbyterian Historical Society (PHS) is the oldest continuous denominational historical society in the United States.Smylie, James H. 1996. ''A Brief History of the Presbyterians.'' Louisville, Kentucky: Geneva Press. Its mission is to col ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

has the collection of Eugene R. Kellersberger's papers, including diaries, scrapbooks and biography, correspondence, medical work, personal papers, and photographic and related textual materials.

References

*Hendrick, John and Winifred Vass. 1998. "Kellersberger, Eugene." ''Biographical Dictionary of Christian Mission'', Gerald Anderson, ed., pp. 356–357. New York: Simon & Schuster Macmillan. *Vass, Winifred K. (1999). ''Doctor Not Afraid'', 2nd ed. Dallas, TX. 1888 births 1966 deaths People from Blanco County, Texas American people of German descent 20th-century American physicians American infectious disease physicians University of Texas at Austin alumni Washington University School of Medicine alumni {{US-physician-stub