Arnold Theiler

{{Short description|Swiss-born South African veterinarian (1867–1936)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox scientist | honorific_prefix = Sir | name = Arnold Theiler | honorific_suffix = KCMG | image = Sir Arnold Theiler crop.jpg | alt = Portrait photo of Arnold Theiler | caption = Theiler in 1923 | birth_name =  | birth_date = {{Birth date|1867|03|26|df=y}} | birth_place = Frick, Canton of Aargau, Switzerland | death_date = {{Death date and age|1936|07|24|1867|03|26|df=y}} | death_place = London, England | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates =  | other_names = | pronounce = | residence = | citizenship = South African citizenship | fields = Veterinary infectious diseases | workplaces = | patrons = | education = | alma_mater = University of Zurich | thesis_title =  | thesis_url =  | thesis_year =  | doctoral_advisor =  | academic_advisors = | doctoral_students = | notable_students = | known_for = | influences = | influenced = | awards = K.C.M.G.<ref name="jaff"/> | author_abbrev_bot = | author_abbrev_zoo = | spouse = Emma Sophie Jegge | children = Hans, Margaret, Gertrud, Max | signature =  | signature_alt = | footnotes = }}

'''Sir Arnold Theiler''' KCMG (26 March 1867 – 24 July 1936)<ref name="jaff">{{cite book|last=Jaff|first=Fay|title=They Came to South Africa|year=1963|publisher=H. Timmins|chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/TheyCameToSouthAfrica#page/n110/mode/1up|accessdate=4 December 2010|location=Cape Town|chapter=Arnold Theiler - Veterinary Genius and Founder of Onderstepoort}}</ref> Pour le Mérite<ref name="jaff"/> is considered to be the father of veterinary science in South Africa. He was born in Frick, Canton Aargau, Switzerland. He received his higher education, and later qualified as a veterinarian, in Zurich. In 1891, Theiler travelled to South Africa and at first found employment as a farm worker on Irene Estates near Pretoria, owned by Nellmapius, but later that year started practising as a veterinarian.

His success at producing a vaccine to combat an outbreak of smallpox among the miners of the Witwatersrand brought him an appointment as state veterinarian for the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, in which capacity he served during the Anglo-Boer War of 1899–1902. During this period his research team developed a vaccine against rinderpest, a malignant and contagious disease of cattle. His tremendous energy, pioneering spirit and professional integrity brought him international recognition.

He described in 1919 what is now known as Theiler's disease, a major cause of acute hepatitis in horses.<ref name=Theiler1919>Theiler A (1919) Acute liver-atrophy and parenchymatous hepatitis in horses. The Fifth and Sixth Reports of the Director of Veterinary Research. Department of Agriculture, Union of South Africa (The Government Printing and Stationery Office, Pretoria, Union of South Africa), pp7–164</ref> This disease is now known to be caused by a parvovirus.<ref>{{Cite journal |pmc = 5782890|year = 2018|last1 = Divers|first1 = T. J.|title = New Parvovirus Associated with Serum Hepatitis in Horses after Inoculation of Common Biological Product|journal = Emerging Infectious Diseases|volume = 24|issue = 2|pages = 303–310|last2 = Tennant|first2 = B. C.|last3 = Kumar|first3 = A.|last4 = McDonough|first4 = S.|last5 = Cullen|first5 = J.|last6 = Bhuva|first6 = N.|last7 = Jain|first7 = K.|last8 = Chauhan|first8 = L. S.|last9 = Scheel|first9 = T. K.|last10 = Lipkin|first10 = W. I.|last11 = Laverack|first11 = M.|last12 = Trivedi|first12 = S.|last13 = Srinivasa|first13 = S.|last14 = Beard|first14 = L.|last15 = Rice|first15 = C. M.|last16 = Burbelo|first16 = P. D.|last17 = Renshaw|first17 = R. W.|last18 = Dubovi|first18 = E.|last19 = Kapoor|first19 = A.|pmid = 29350162|doi = 10.3201/eid2402.171031}}</ref>

Theiler was the first director of the Onderstepoort Veterinary Research Institute, outside Pretoria. This institute under his leadership carried out research on African horse sickness, sleeping sickness, malaria, East Coast fever (''Theileria parva'') and tick-borne diseases such as redwater, heartwater and biliary. The University of Pretoria Faculty of Veterinary Science was established there in 1920 which enabled veterinarians to train locally for the first time. Theiler became the first dean of this faculty.

He married Emma Sophie Jegge (1861–1951) and had two sons and two daughters, the younger two of whom worked at Onderstepoort: Hans (1894–1947), a veterinarian; Margaret (1896–1988), a teacher; Gertrud (1897–1986), a parasitologist and professor; and Max Theiler (1899–1972), a Nobel laureate in 1951 in Physiology and Medicine.

==References== {{reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Theiler, Arnold}} Category:1867 births Category:1936 deaths Category:South African scientists Category:South African veterinarians Category:Academic staff of the University of Pretoria Category:South African people of Swiss descent Category:South African Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Category:Presidents of the Southern Africa Association for the Advancement of Science Category:Swiss emigrants to South Africa Category:Immigrants to the South African Republic Category:University of Zurich alumni