Advertisement for Tuberculomucin Weleminsky Wellcome L0072646

Advertisement for Tuberculomucin Weleminsky Wellcome L0072647

Dr Joseph Friedrich ("Fritz") Weleminsky (20 January 1868, in

Golčův Jeníkov Golčův Jeníkov (; german: Goltsch-Jenikau) is a town in Havlíčkův Brod District in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,700 inhabitants. Administrative parts Villages of Kobylí Hlava, Nasavrky, Římovice, Sirákovice, ...

– 1 January 1945, in London), was a

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

, a scientist and a ''

privatdozent ''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualific ...

'' in Hygiene (now called

Microbiology Microbiology () is the scientific study of microorganisms, those being unicellular (single cell), multicellular (cell colony), or acellular (lacking cells). Microbiology encompasses numerous sub-disciplines including virology, bacteriology, prot ...

) at the German University, PragueFrom 1882 to 1939,

Charles University ) , image_name = Carolinum_Logo.svg , image_size = 200px , established = , type = Public, Ancient , budget = 8.9 billion CZK , rector = Milena Králíčková , faculty = 4,057 , administrative_staff = 4,026 , students = 51,438 , undergr ...

in Prague was divided into two institutions, one German-speaking and the other Czech-speaking. See https://www.lfhk.cuni.cz/Faculty/About-faculty/History/ who, in the early 20th century, created an alternative treatment for

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

, ''tuberculomucin Weleminsky''.

Early life and education

He was born into a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family on 20 January 1868 at Golčův Jeníkov in

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

, which was then part of the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

and is now in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. His parents were Jacob Weleminsky (1834–1905), a general medical practitioner (GP) in Golčův Jeníkov, and his wife Bertha (''née'' Kohn; 1844–1914). Friedrich was their second child; he had an elder sister, Paula (1867–1936), who in 1888 married a

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

lawyer, Felix Popper, and a younger brother, Josef ("Pepi") (1870–1937) who, like Friedrich, studied medicine in Prague and who went on to become a

laryngologist The larynx (), commonly called the voice box, is an organ in the top of the neck involved in breathing, producing sound and protecting the trachea against food aspiration. The opening of larynx into pharynx known as the laryngeal inlet is about ...

. The family moved to Dresden in 1879 when Jacob obtained a position as GP there, and later to Prague. Friedrich attended the

Kreuzschule The ''Kreuzschule'' (German for "School of the Cross") in Dresden (also known by its Latin name, ''schola crucis'') is the oldest surviving school in Dresden and one of the oldest in Germany. As early as 1300, a schoolmaster (''Cunradus puerorum re ...

in Dresden and studied medicine in Prague.

Career

Friedrich Weleminsky enrolled in the medical faculty of the German University in Prague in 1893 and obtained a

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...

qualification as Dr.Med. in 1900. He was appointed to a teaching post in the university's medical faculty as a ''

'' in Hygiene in July 1900. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Weleminsky was in charge of the reserve hospital "Halicz" which was stationed in various parts of

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

. While stationed in

Kleinreifling Kleinreifling is a village in the district of Steyr-Land in Upper Austria, Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a ...

, a village in the district of

Steyr-Land Bezirk Steyr-Land is a district of the state of Upper Austria in Austria. Municipalities Towns (''Städte'') are indicated in boldface; market towns (''Marktgemeinden'') in ''italics''; suburbs, hamlets and other subdivisions of a municipality ...

Upper Austria Upper Austria (german: Oberösterreich ; bar, Obaöstareich) is one of the nine states or of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, a ...

, he successfully brought a local

typhoid Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...

epidemic An epidemic (from Ancient Greek, Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time. Epidemics ...

under control, for which he was made an

Ehrenbürger Honorary citizenship is a status bestowed by a city or other government on a foreign or native individual whom it considers to be especially admirable or otherwise worthy of the distinction. The honour usually is symbolic and does not confer an ...

of Weyer.

''Tuberculomucin Weleminsky''

Weleminsky's particular area of interest was

vaccination Vaccination is the administration of a vaccine to help the immune system develop immunity from a disease. Vaccines contain a microorganism or virus in a weakened, live or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism. In stimulating ...

against tuberculosis. In 1935, an editorial in the ''

American Journal of Clinical Pathology The ''American Journal of Clinical Pathology'' is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal covering clinical pathology. It was established in 1931 and is published by Oxford University Press. It is the official journal of the American Society f ...

'' cited one of his articles as providing "a good review of the voluminous literature accumulated on BCG". In 1912 Weleminsky, who was then second assistant to

Ferdinand Hueppe Ferdinand Adolph Theophil Hueppe (24 August 1852 – 15 September 1938) was a German physician, bacteriologist and hygienist. From 1900 to 1904, he was the first Deutscher Fußball-Bund (DFB, German Football Association) president. Biography Fr ...

, the head of the Institute for Hygiene at the German University of Prague, published his discovery of a new treatment for

, which he named tuberculomucin (Tbm). It was tested on

guinea pigs The guinea pig or domestic guinea pig (''Cavia porcellus''), also known as the cavy or domestic cavy (), is a species of rodent belonging to the genus ''Cavia'' in the family Caviidae. Breeders tend to use the word ''cavy'' to describe the ani ...

, with number 1769 being the first to survive due to the treatment in 1909. He also used ''tuberculomucin Weleminsky'' (also spelt ''tuberkulomucin Weleminsky'' and ''tuberkulomuzin Weleminsky'') to treat cattle which he kept at his country retreat, Schloss Thalheim. More than 60 papers were published in German describing tuberculomucin's use in humans, but very few of them were read by an English-speaking audience. By the mid-1920s it was known as ''tuberculomucin Weleminsky'' and at least two companies were involved in producing and marketing the treatment.The 1927 advertisement pictured here was issued by the Biopharma

pharmaceutical company The pharmaceutical industry discovers, develops, produces, and markets drugs or pharmaceutical drugs for use as medications to be administered to patients (or self-administered), with the aim to cure them, vaccinate them, or alleviate sympto ...

in Vienna. It listed the distinctions between

tuberculin Tuberculin, also known as purified protein derivative, is a combination of proteins that are used in the diagnosis of tuberculosis. This use is referred to as the tuberculin skin test and is recommended only for those at high risk. Reliable admin ...

and ''tuberculomucin Weleminsky'' (TbM) and invited general practitioners and clinical physicians to seek a brochure about TbM, or trial samples for clinical testing, by completing and returning a postcard in which they were also asked to say if they were already using Tbm and what success they had experienced in using it. '' In 1938, Sanders, a Belgian pharmaceutical company, planned to manufacture Tbm and to make it available in Western Europe and other parts of the developed world. However, Weleminsky fled from Prague in 1939, a couple of weeks before the Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia, and these plans and further development of the treatment ceased.

Personal and family life

On 4 December 1905 he married Jenny Elbogen (1882–1957), at her parents' country home, Schloss Thalheim,

Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...

.Schloss Thalheim is in the village of Thalheim (Kapelln), today a part of

Kapelln Kapelln is a market municipality in the Sankt Pölten-Land district, Lower Austria, Austria. 10.29% of the municipality are forested. Kapelln is subdivided into the Katastralgemeinde A cadastral community or cadastral municipality, is a Cadastre ...

Sankt Pölten-Land District Bezirk St. Pölten-Land is a district of the state of Lower Austria in Austria. It completely surrounds the city of Sankt Pölten, which exists as a separate entity and borders Vienna to the west. Municipalities Suburbs, hamlets and other subdivis ...

; see :de:Liste der denkmalgeschützten Objekte in Kapelln#Denkmäler,

Jakob Prandtauer Jakob Prandtauer (baptized in Stanz bei Landeck (Tyrol) on 16 July 1660; died in Sankt Pölten on 16 September 1726) was an Austrian Baroque architect. Trained as a stonemason rather than as an architect, he designed and supervised the constru ...

. The property was damaged during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. After restoratio
it reopened in 2016 as a luxury hotel.
/ref> The married couple lived in Prague and at Schloss Thalheim, which Jenny inherited from her father after his death in 1918 and which they ran as a model dairy farm. They had four children together. Their eldest daughter, Marianne (born 1906), and their son, AntonAnton was referred to as "Antonin" in official

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...

documents. (born 1908), came to Britain just before the

. Two of their daughters emigrated in the early 1930s to

Mandatory 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 ...

where they took new names – Eliesabeth (born 1909) became Jardenah, and Dorothea (born 1912) was known as Leah. Facing

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

persecution for being Jewish, Friedrich and Jenny Weleminsky found sanctuary in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

in 1939.

Death and legacy

Friedrich Weleminsky died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

on 1 January 1945 at

Fulham Hospital Fulham Hospital was an English hospital in the west London district of Fulham from 1884 to 1973. From 1957 onwards it was merged with the Charing Cross Hospital and gradually demolished. Charing Cross Hospital relocated from central London and n ...

, London and is buried at

Golders Green Jewish Cemetery Golders Green Jewish Cemetery, usually known as Hoop Lane Jewish Cemetery, is a Jewish cemetery in Golders Green, London NW postcode area, NW11. It is maintained by a joint burial committee representing members of the West London Synagogue and ...

. His wife Jenny, who was 14 years younger, survived him by 12 years. Their grandchildren and great-grandchildren now live in Britain,

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. In 2011, following an approach by Weleminsky's eldest granddaughter, Dr Charlotte Jones, a retired general practitioner, a team at the

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

's Department of Science and Technology Studies resumed research on ''tuberculomucin Weleminsky''. Since 2017, Friedrich's granddaughter

Judy Weleminsky The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) is the umbrella body for the voluntary and community sector in England. It is a registered charity (no 225922). NCVO works to support the voluntary and community sector and to create an ...

has been leading this research.

Publications

* Basch, K; Weleminsky, Friedrich (1898). "Ueber die Ausscheidung von Krankheitserregern durch die Milch". ''Jahrb. f. Kinderheilk''. 47, 105–115 * Weleminsky, Friedrich (1899). ''Über Sporenbildung bei Dematium pululans de Bary'', 7pp. * Weleminsky, Friedrich (1899). ''Ueber Akklimitisation in Grossstädten (On acclimisation in large cities)'', Oldenbourg: Munich. Off-print from ''Archiv für Hygiene'', 26: 2 * Jadassohn, J; Pick, Walther; Weleminsky, Friedrich (1903). "Buchanzeigen und Besprechungen". ''Archiv für Dermatologie und Syphilis'', 64(1): 149–160 * Weleminsky, Friedrich (1905). "Zur Pathogenese der Lungentuberkulose (On the pathogenesis of lung tuberculosis)". '' Klinische Wochenschrift (Clinical Weekly).'' Berlin,

Springer-Verlag Springer Science+Business Media, commonly known as Springer, is a German multinational publishing company of books, e-books and peer-reviewed journals in science, humanities, technical and medical (STM) publishing. Originally founded in 1842 in ...

* Weleminsky, Friedrich (1906). "Ueber Zuchtung von Mikroorganismen in stromenden Nahrboden". ''Zentralblatt fur Bakteriologie, Parasitenkunde und Infektionskrankheiten (Central Journal of Bacteriology, Parasitics, Infectious Diseases and Hygiene)'', 42: 1–7 * Weleminsky, Friedrich (1907). "Der Gang von Infektionen in den Lymphbahnen (The course of infections in the lymphatics)". '' Klinische Wochenschrift (Clinical Weekly).'' Berlin,

* Weleminsky, Friedrich (1912). "Ueber die Bildung von Elweiss und Mucin durch Tuberkelbacillen". '' Klinische Wochenschrift (Clinical Weekly)''. 28: 1–8 Berlin,

* Weleminsky, Friedrich (1914). "Tierversuche mit Tuberculomucin". '' Klinische Wochenschrift (Clinical Weekly)''. 18: 1–10 Berlin,

* Weleminsky, Friedrich (1928). "Filtrable form of tubercle bacilli". ''Zentralbl. f. d. gesam. Tuberk.Forsch''. 28(5/6): 305–310 * Weleminsky, Friedrich (1930). "Die Immunisierung gegen Tuberkulose mit Calmette's BCG". '' Klinische Wochenschrift (Clinical Weekly)''. II: 1317–1320 Berlin,

* Weleminsky, Friedrich (1930). "Die B.C.G.-Literatur in französischer Sprache". ''Zentralbl. f. d. gesam. Tuberk.Forsch''. 33: 129–135

Early life and education

Career

''Tuberculomucin Weleminsky''

Personal and family life

Death and legacy

Publications

See also

Note

References

Further reading