Dr. Friederich Eurich (1867–1945) was a German bacteriologist.

Early life and education

He was born in

Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the German state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. It is the 28th largest city of Germany as well as the fourth largest city in the area of former East Germany a ...

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

German Jewish The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (''circa'' 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish ...

descent, he came to England at the age of seven. His father moved to the branch of a German yarn firm in Little Germany,

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

, where there was a substantial German community. Friederich was educated at

Bradford Grammar School Bradford Grammar School (BGS) is a co-educational independent day school located in Frizinghall, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Entrance is by examination, except for the sixth form, where admission is based on GCSE results. The school g ...

and trained at

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, graduating MD in 1897. He set up a general practice in Bradford in 1896 and held a Saturday morning surgery, free of charge, at

Bradford Royal Infirmary Bradford Royal Infirmary is a large teaching hospital in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and is operated by the Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The infirmary is affiliated with the Leeds School of Medicine. History The ho ...

Career

Cutaneous

anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium ''Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The sk ...

(wool sorter's disease) had become a serious problem in the woollen mills of Bradford, the use of

alpaca The alpaca (''Lama pacos'') is a species of South American camelid mammal. It is similar to, and often confused with, the llama. However, alpacas are often noticeably smaller than llamas. The two animals are closely related and can successfu ...

and

mohair Mohair (pronounced ) is a fabric or yarn made from the hair of the Angora goat. (This should not be confused with Angora wool, which is made from the fur of the Angora rabbit.) Both durable and resilient, mohair is notable for its high luster ...

from Central Asia was the source of the disease. To counter the problem, Bradford Council established a Pathological and Bacteriological Laboratory and Eurich was appointed bacteriologist. The laboratory was originally located in the

Technical College An institute of technology (also referred to as: technological university, technical university, university of technology, technological educational institute, technical college, polytechnic university or just polytechnic) is an institution of te ...

but in 1905 the Bradford Anthrax Investigation Board relocated the laboratory to Morley Street, where Eurich became the bacteriologist to the board. With Eurich's expertise in the field of

bacteriology Bacteriology is the branch and specialty of biology that studies the morphology, ecology, genetics and biochemistry of bacteria as well as many other aspects related to them. This subdivision of microbiology involves the identification, classificat ...

, and putting his own health at great risk while investigating the disease, the Board instituted other medical measures against anthrax and, in 1918, built a Wool Disinfecting Station in Liverpool. The investigative nature of his work as a bacteriologist encouraged him to apply for the post of Professor of Forensic Medicine at

Leeds Medical School The School of Medicine is the medical school of the University of Leeds, in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The School of Medicine was founded in 1831. The School of Medicine now forms part of the University's Faculty of Medicine an ...

in 1908. The year’s work involved 40 lectures, all in the autumn term, and acting as internal examiner twice a year. For this he received an honorarium of £38 p.a. until he retired from the post in 1932. He was a popular teacher, achieved outstanding results, which he put down to the intrinsic allure of the subject - the glamour of the detective story.

Death and recognition

On Friederich Eurich's death in February 1945, the ''Yorkshire Observer'' recorded that he "did so much to conquer the disease of anthrax and his contributions in the cause of medicine were so outstanding."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eurich, Friederich Wilhelm 1867 births 1945 deaths German bacteriologists Anthrax People from Chemnitz