Google Celebrates Rudolf Weigl’s 138th Birthday With A Doodle
Before penicillin and the polio vaccine, there was another vaccine that many attribute to saving millions of lives. In 1901, Rudolf Weigl invented the vaccine against typhus, one of the most deadly diseases at the time. Although he wasn’t the first to develop an immunization against typhus, his method was significantly more effective than earlier versions and helped preserve the lives of soldiers in World War I and II, as well as civilian populations in areas with high rates of typhus infections.
Key facts about him
•He was a Polish physician and microbiologist, who pioneered in vaccine therapy against tuberculosis. •For his work, he received two Nobel Prizes: one for Physiology or Medicine in 1940 (awarded to him alone), and one for Peace in 1948, which he shared with his wife Irena. •In 1939, during World War II, he worked as a secret scientific advisor to Poland’s government-in-exile in London. He died of a heart attack at age 58 while running on Hampstead Heath with his daughter Ursula, which is now commemorated by a sculpture by Adam Pągowski at St Mary’s Hospital Gardens.
The story behind the doodle
Google honors Polish microbiologist and inventor Rudolf Weigl with a doodle on what would have been his 138th birthday. Google honored one of its own, Dr. Weigl, today with a doodle for what would have been his 138th birthday. He is credited as being an inspiration to Google co-founder Sergey Brin and is credited for developing a vaccine against typhus in occupied Poland during World War II—which saved thousands of lives from both sides of the conflict. In addition to Brin, Apple’s Steve Jobs called him one of his heroes and Microsoft founder Bill Gates credits him as a key inspiration behind its initiative to develop vaccines in developing countries.
Why did Google select this particular artist?
Rudolf Weigl was a physician, immunologist and bacteriologist. Born in Poland on Nov. 1, 1885, he graduated from medical school in Krakow in 1910, and then practiced as a pathologist at several clinics and research institutes in Vienna. From 1920 to 1939 he worked at what is now Lviv State Medical University (then called Jan Kazimierz University) in Lviv. He invented an anti-typhus vaccine for which about 17 million people were vaccinated during World War II, including German soldiers.
Follow-up stories on other media outlets
Dr. Rudolf Weigl is credited with inventing both a vaccine for typhus and an innovative method of mass-producing it for use during World War II. During his lifetime, he was awarded numerous prizes and medals for his accomplishments in medicine, including one from Albert Einstein. Though Dr. Weigl’s life is no longer celebrated today in Poland, recent research has brought to light many more details about his work and legacy – putting him back into Polish scientific history books once again. If you’re curious about Dr. Weigl’s work, here are some things you might want to know
Biggest lessons learned from Dr. Weigl
- Perseverance 2. Patience 3. Happiness of others 4. Life is short, so work hard and live fast 5. Embrace challenges and it will shape your life 6. Creativity is what keeps us young, says Dr. Weigl (1924-1994) 7. Inventors are those who see possibilities before they become obvious to others 8. A good team makes success possible 9.
What can you learn from Dr. Weigl?
Weigl had a passion for science and medicine, and his career was full of many notable achievements. However, despite his reputation as a leading immunologist, he died relatively unknown in 1985 at age 91. But that’s not to say that he didn’t have any impact on humanity; in fact, according to Krysztof Chomiczewski, a virologist at Collegium Polonicum in Rome, most people think that vaccine against yellow fever came from America—from Rockefeller Foundation—and it’s not true. The vaccine has been prepared by Prof. Rudolf Weigl more than 50 years before anywhere else in world. This wasn’t an isolated occurrence either; through his research efforts during World War II, Dr.