Who was Rudolf Weigl and what was his cause of death?
SINCE 1998, Google Doodle has commemorated holidays, events, achievements and notable historical figured of particular countries. Many historical figures have been featured as a temporary logo on Google’s homepages, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Clara Schumann, Marsha P. Johnson, Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla. Who was Rudolf Weigl? Born September 2, 1883, Rudolf Weigl […]
SINCE 1998, Google Doodle has commemorated holidays, events, achievements and notable historical figured of particular countries.
Many historical figures have been featured as a temporary logo on Google’s homepages, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Clara Schumann, Marsha P. Johnson, Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla.
Who was Rudolf Weigl?
Born September 2, 1883, Rudolf Weigl was a Polish biologist, physician and inventor.
Weigl was born in Austria-Hungary – the Czech Republic today – and studied biological sciences at Lwow University.
Weigl is widely recognized for creating the vaccine against epidemic typhus, developing the first vaccine version in 1918.
Accoridng to the CDC, Epidemic typhus – also known as louse-borne typhus -is an uncommon disease caused by a bacteria called Rickettsia prowazekii.
Epidemic typhus is spread to people through contact with infected body lice, unlike endemic typhus, usually transmitted by fleas.
Epidemic typhus was responsible for millions of deaths in previous centuries; however, it is now considered rare.
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Symptoms of epidemic typhus begin within two weeks after contact with infected body lice.
Symptoms may include fever and chills, headache, rapid breathing, body and muscle aches, rash, cough, nausea, vomiting and confusion.
Weigl worked during the Holocaust to save the lives of countless Jews by developing the vaccine for typhus and providing shelter to protect those suffering under the Nazis in occupied Poland.
From 1930 and 1939, Weigl was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Medicine.
For his contributions, he was named a Righteous Among the Nations in 2003.
What was his cause of death?
After World War II, Weigl moved to the mountains of Poland, where he lived out the rest of his days.
The scientist died in August 1957 at the age of 74.
Weigl’s cause of death has never been made public.
Did Google pay homage to Rudolf Weigl on Google Doodle?
To honor his achievement, Google dedicated its Doodle to the doctor on his 138th birthday.
The search engine’s doodle shows the Polish inventor holding a test tube in his gloved hands and drawings of lice on the wall on one side and a human body on the other.
The illustrator spelled out Google with a microscope, beakers on bunsen burners, and test tubes in holders, all placed on a lab table.
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