Hans Zinsser
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Hans Zinsser
(born Nov. 17, 1878, New York, N.Y., U.S.died 1940) U.S. bacteriologist and epidemiologist. He taught principally at the Columbia (191323) and Harvard (192340) medical schools. He isolated the bacterium that causes the European type of typhus, developed the first antityphus vaccine, and, with colleagues, found a way to mass-produce it. He recognized that cases of mild typhus-like symptoms in lice-free persons are recurrences after a latent period (Brill-Zinsser disease). His best-known book, Rats, Lice and History (1935), recounts the effects of typhus on humankind (he believed disease had destroyed more civilizations than war) and efforts to eradicate it.
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Zinsser, Hans (zĭns'ər), 1878-1940, American bacteriologist, b. New York City, grad. Columbia (B.A., 1899; M.D., 1903). He was professor of bacteriology at Stanford (1911-13), Columbia (1913-23), and Harvard medical school (from 1923). A noted epidemiologist, he was a leader in combating typhus and served with the American Red Cross sanitary commission during the 1915 typhus epidemic in Serbia and with the League of Nations sanitary commission (1923) in the USSR. Zinsser isolated the germ of the European type of typhus, and with his colleagues at Harvard, he developed (1940) a method for mass production of the vaccine. He wrote a popular work on typhus, Rats, Lice, and History (1935); several textbooks, including Infection and Resistance (1914; 4th ed. rev., Resistance to Infectious Disease, 1931; 5th ed. rev., Immunity, 1939); and the autobiographical As I Remember Him (1940).
American Heritage Dictionary:
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Zins·ser
, Hans 1878-1940.American bacteriologist and pioneer immunologist who helped develop immunization against varieties of typhus fever (1930).
Houghton Mifflin Chronology of US Literature:
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Works by Hans Zinsser
(1878-1940)
| 1935 | Rats, Lice, and History. The leading bacteriologist and immunologist in the United States during the first half of the twentieth century publishes this history of typhus, which becomes both a popular and critical success. |
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Hans Zinsser
| Hans Zinsser | |
|---|---|
 Hans Zinsser, MD, while an officer in the US Army Medical Corps in World War I |
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| Born | November 17, 1878 New York City |
| Died | September 4, 1940 New York City |
| Nationality | American |
| Fields | Physician, bacteriologist, and epidemiologist |
| Institutions | Columbia University Stanford University Harvard Medical School |
| Alma mater | Columbia University |
| Doctoral advisor | Philip Hanson Hiss |
| Doctoral students | William Hammon |
| Known for | Typhus |
Hans Zinsser (November 17, 1878 – September 4, 1940) was an American bacteriologist and a prolific author.[1] He was the author of over 200 books and medical articles, and was a member of a number of scientific and medical organizations. Dr. Zinsser was also a published poet, having some of his verses printed in the Atlantic Monthly, now known as "The Atlantic".[2] His 1940 autobiography, As I Remember Him: the Autobiography of R.S., won one of the early National Book Awards, the sixth and last annual award for Nonfiction voted by members of the American Booksellers Association.[3][4]
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Life
The son of German immigrants, Zinsser was born in New York City in 1878. He received his undergraduate degree from Columbia University in 1899 and completed both a masters degree and a doctorate in medicine there in 1903.[5]
In 1905, Dr. Hans Zinsser married Ruby Handforth Kunz, eldest daughter of the mineralogist, Dr. George Frederick Kunz, and they had two children, Hans Handforth and Gretel Zinsser, and they all lived in Boston. Gretel Zinsser later married Vernon Monroe, Jr.
Zinsser succumbed to acute leukemia in 1940. He is interred in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York.
Career
After holding a series of academic medicine positions, Zinsser became an associate professor at Stanford University in 1910. In 1913, Zinsser moved to a position at his alma mater. Ten years later, he was hired away by Harvard Medical School, where he stayed—except for service in the US Army Medical Corps in World War I-- until his death.
Dr. Zinsser taught as an exchange professor or worked with the American Red Cross in France, Russia, Serbia and China, and was noted for his work in typhus and immunology. He became a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army and served overseas during World War I. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, and was also awarded another military citation for taking exceptional risks to minister to wounded soldiers while under direct enemy fire. He was awarded with the Order of St. Sava of Serbia and the Legion of Honour in France.[2]
Zinsser's scientific work focused on bacteriology and immunology and he is greatly associated with Brill’s disease as well as typhus. He is known for his work in isolating the typhus bacterium and developing a protective vaccine. He wrote several books about biology and bacteria, notably Rats, Lice and History, a "biography" of typhus fever.[6] Rats, Lice and History was republished in 2007 by Transaction Publishers.[7] Zinsser had a strong influence on the work of Dr. Albert Coons, who developed the technique of immunohistochemistry.
References
- ^ Summers WC (1999). "Hans Zinsser: a tale of two cultures". The Yale journal of biology and medicine 72 (5): 341–7. PMC 2579027. PMID 11049165. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=2579027.
- ^ a b "Zinsser, Hans." National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. New York: James T. White Company. 1950. Volume XXXVI, pages 35-36.
- ^ "Books and Authors", The New York Times, 1936-04-12, page BR12. ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851-2007).
- ^ "Books and Authors", The New York Times, 1941-02-16, page BR12. ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851-2007).
- ^ Mueller JH (1 December 1940). "Hans Zinsser, 1878–1940". Journal of Bacteriology 40 (6): i2. PMC 374674. PMID 16560389. http://jb.asm.org/cgi/reprint/40/6/i2.
- ^ Zinsser H (1996). Rats, Lice, and History: Being a Study in Biography, Which, After Twelve Preliminary Chapters Indispensable for the Preparation of the Lay Reader, Deals With the Life History of Typhus Fever. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers. ISBN 1-884822-47-9. (Originally published in 1935, with another edition in 1963.)
- ^ Zinsser H (2007). Rats, Lice, and History. New Jersey: Transaction Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4128-0672-5. http://books.google.com/?id=deE1pov75sAC&dq=%22rats,+lice+and+history%22&printsec=frontcover&q
Further reading
- Zinsser, Hans. As I Remember Him: The Biography of R.S. Gloucester, Mass: Peter Smith. 1970. With an introduction including biographic notes by Edward Weeks.
External links
- Biography of Hans Zinsser
- National Academy of Sciences: Biographical Memoirs for Hans Zinsser
- Hans Zinsser Papers at The Center for the History of Medicine at the Countway Library, Harvard Medical School.
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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The Chronology of American Literature, edited by Daniel S. Burt. Copyright © 2004 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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