C. Henry Kempe (birth name Karl Heinz Kempe; April 6, 1922 in Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland) – March 3, 1984 in Hanauma Bay, Hawaii) was an American pediatrician and the first in the medical community to identify and recognize child abuse. In 1962, Kempe and his colleagues, including Brandt F. Steele and Henry Silver, published the paper "The Battered-Child Syndrome", which led to the identification and recognition by the medical community of child abuse. This syndrome has since been discredited by medical science and shows the problems when medical doctors are tasked with law enforcement resulting in overturned convictions and innocent people being incarcerated. Kempe received two nominations for the

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

: the first nomination was for his work in developing a safer

smallpox vaccine The smallpox vaccine is the first vaccine to be developed against a contagious disease. In 1796, British physician Edward Jenner demonstrated that an infection with the relatively mild cowpox virus conferred immunity against the deadly smallpox ...

; the second was recognition for his contribution to the prevention and treatment of child abuse. Due to the efforts of Kempe, abuse reporting laws exist in all 50 US states. His efforts also led to the passage of the 1972 Colorado law requiring legal counsel for the child in all cases of suspected abuse.

Early life

Born into a Jewish family in Germany during the rise of the Nazi party, Kempe fled Germany as a teenager and came to the United States of America. He learned a new language, completed high school and college, and eventually became a physician. Specializing in the study of

virology Virology is the scientific study of biological viruses. It is a subfield of microbiology that focuses on their detection, structure, classification and evolution, their methods of infection and exploitation of host cells for reproduction, th ...

, he helped develop

Vaccinia immune globulin Vaccinia immune globulin (VIG) is made from the pooled blood of individuals who have been inoculated with the smallpox vaccine. The antibodies these individuals developed in response to the smallpox vaccine are removed and purified. This results in ...

to counter the adverse effects of the

. Kempe became the youngest chairman of the pediatrics department at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University o ...

. During his tenure, he began to recognize the prevalence of non-accidental injuries to children. He demanded a better diagnostic investigation of the unexplained and life-threatening injuries observed in children at four different hospital emergency rooms: shattered bones, inflicted burns, and brain damage. His research led to the publication of "The Battered-Child Syndrome".

Career

Kempe Center

Kempe, his colleagues and wife Ruth Kempe founded The Kempe Center, originally the National Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect, in 1972 to prevent and treat child abuse and neglect. In 1976, The Kempe Foundation was established to spearhead fundraising, awareness and advocacy efforts for children. The Kempe Center and The Kempe Foundation are currently located at The Gary Pavilion at Children's Hospital (Aurora, Colorado).

The C. Henry Kempe Award

First awarded in 1985, The Kempe Award is presented to professionals and philanthropists who have contributed substantially to the community on behalf of children and who have creatively fought the war against child abuse. The award is given every two years by ISPCAN, The International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, to an outstanding young professional or organization working in any discipline in the field of child abuse and neglect.

Awards

* 1959 - E. Mead Johnson Award

Personal

Kempe met his future wife Ruth Svibergson while they were both in

residency Residency may refer to: * Domicile (law), the act of establishing or maintaining a residence in a given place ** Permanent residency, indefinite residence within a country despite not having citizenship * Residency (medicine), a stage of postgra ...

at Yale and they married in 1948. Ruth, who was also later a professor at CU, and Henry had five daughters. Ruth and Henry were co-authors of several books, including ''Healthy Babies; Happy Parents''.

Footnotes

External links

Kempe Center

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kempe, C. Henry 1922 births 1984 deaths 20th-century American physicians American pediatricians American virologists Child abuse German emigrants to the United States University of Colorado faculty Members of the National Academy of Medicine