{{short description|Swiss zoologist}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Rudolf Geigy | image = Rudolf Geigy. Photograph by L.J. Bruce-Chwatt. Wellcome V0027960.jpg | alt = Rudolf Geigy, seated at a table, signing a book | birth_name = | birth_date = 20 December 1902 | birth_place = Basel, Switzerland | death_date = {{Death date and age|1995|03|08|1902|12|20|df=y}} | death_place = | resting_place = | field = biology, medicine, vector-borne diseases | training = | movement = | works = | patrons = | influenced by = | influenced = | awards = }} '''Rudolf Geigy''' (20 December 1902 – 8 March 1995) was a Swiss biologist and a professor of embryology and genetics at the University of Basel. He established the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute and studied tropical diseases.<ref name=HistDictSwitz>{{cite book|author=Freyvogel, Thierry|chapter=Rudolf Geigy|title=Historical Dictionary of Switzerland|language=de|url=http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/d/D44781.php|access-date=2 November 2017|archive-date=3 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171103140128/http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/d/D44781.php|url-status=live}}</ref>
== Life and career == Geigy was born in Basel, Switzerland on 20 December 1902.<ref name="SwissTropicalInstitute">{{cite web|url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-tropical-institute-commemorates-founder/3062564|title=Swiss Tropical Institute commemorates founder|author=Vincent Landon|date=December 20, 2002|website=swissinfo.ch|access-date=November 3, 2017|archive-date=November 3, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171103121346/https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-tropical-institute-commemorates-founder/3062564|url-status=live}}</ref> He was the grandson of Johann Rudolf Geigy-Merian and son of (same name) Johann Rudolf Geigy-Merian and Helene Schlumberger<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stroux.org/patriz_f/stQV_f/GgD_f.pdf |title=Auszug Stamm Geigy |language=de |website=stroux.org |access-date=November 5, 2017 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304215629/http://www.stroux.org/patriz_f/stQV_f/GgD_f.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> who belonged to the family that established Geigy, a major pharmaceutical firm.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Novartis-AG |title=Novartis AG |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=November 5, 2017 |archive-date=October 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027181457/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Novartis-AG |url-status=live }}</ref> He studied zoology at Basel and Geneva. In 1938 he became an associate professor of embryology and genetics at the University of Basel. In 1943 he established the Swiss Tropical Institute (now Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute) in Basel where he was a director until 1972.<ref name=HistDictSwitz /> He also established the Ifakara Health Institute in Ifakara, Tanzania after a visit in 1949,<ref name=TWAS>{{cite book |date=2009 |title=Ifakara Health Institute, Tanzania |series=Excellence in Science: Profiles of Research Institutions in Developing Countries (twas.org/publications/excellence-in-science)|url=http://twas.org/sites/default/files/twas_ihi.pdf |publisher=The World Academy of Sciences |pages=12–13 |access-date=25 September 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160408135043/http://twas.org/sites/default/files/twas_ihi.pdf |archive-date=2016-04-08 }}</ref><ref name="IHI">{{cite web|url = http://www.ihi.or.tz/about/who-we-are |title = Who We Are – Ifakara Health Institute – IHI |website = Ifakara Health Institute – IHI |access-date= 25 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604110108/http://www.ihi.or.tz/about/who-we-are |archive-date=2016-06-04 }}</ref> and a research institute on the Ivory Coast. He studied malaria, sleeping sickness, and river blindness.<ref name=HistDictSwitz /><ref>{{cite journal|author=Janssens, P.G.|year=1995|title=In memoriam Rudolf Geigy 20 December 1902 – 8 March 1995|url=http://lib.itg.be/open/asbmt/1995/1995asbm0249.pdf|journal=Annales de la Société Belge de Médecine Tropicale|volume=75|issue=3|pages=249–250|pmid=8849303|language=fr|access-date=3 November 2017|archive-date=3 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171103110814/http://lib.itg.be/open/asbmt/1995/1995asbm0249.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> He specialized in disease-transmitting vectors including tsetse flies,<ref name=SwissTropicalInstitute /> mites, and ticks.<ref>{{cite book |title=Cure Unknown: Inside the Lyme Epidemic |author=Pamela Weintraub |year=2013 |publisher=Macmillan |edition=Revised |page=81 |isbn=9781250044563 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kEWqCFNrqt4C&pg=PA81 |access-date=November 3, 2017 |archive-date=August 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809201347/https://books.google.com/books?id=kEWqCFNrqt4C&pg=PA81 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Geigy married three times with three daughters and a son from the second wife. He then married Charlotte Hunziker in 1972. On 8 March 1995, due to health issues, the couple chose to die by assisted suicide through the euthanasia organization ''Exit (Switzerland)'', which led to a major debate on euthanasia in Switzerland.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://query.staatsarchiv.bs.ch/query/Detail.aspx?ID=235335 |title=PA 1095 Rudolf Geigy (1902–1995), 1946 (ca.)–2003 (Bestand) |trans-title=PA 1095 Rudolf Geigy (1902–1995), 1946 (approx.) – 2003 (inventory) |language=de |publisher=Online Catalogue of the State Archives Basel-Stadt |access-date=November 3, 2017 |archive-date=November 7, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107023507/https://query.staatsarchiv.bs.ch/query/Detail.aspx?ID=235335 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://elpais.com/diario/1995/03/21/sociedad/795740403_850215.html|title=Una famosa pareja suiza se envenena asesorada por un grupo pro eutanasia|date=1995-03-21|work=El País|access-date=2017-11-03|language=es|archive-date=2017-11-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171103191040/https://elpais.com/diario/1995/03/21/sociedad/795740403_850215.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
During his life, Geigy helped establish a number of institutions which have since merged.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.geigystiftung.ch/en/foundation/history-of-the-r-geigy-foundation.html |title=History of the R. Geigy Foundation |publisher=Rudolf Geigy Foundation |access-date=November 4, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151213145150/https://www.geigystiftung.ch/en/foundation/history-of-the-r-geigy-foundation.html |archive-date=2015-12-13}}</ref> The Rudolf Geigy Foundation continues to give awards named for Geigy to scholars researching tropical and neglected diseases, specifically those who combine field and laboratory work in novel ways,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.geigystiftung.ch/en/rgeigy-award/about-the-award.html |title=About the R. Geigy Foundation Award |publisher=Rudolf Geigy Foundation |access-date=November 4, 2017 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20171105202359/https://www.geigystiftung.ch/en/rgeigy-award/about-the-award.html |archive-date=2017-11-05 |url-status=dead }}</ref> honoring Geigy's legacy of doing so himself.<ref name=SwissTropicalInstitute />
== See also == * Neglected tropical disease research and development
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==External links == * [https://www.swisstph.ch/en/about/swiss-tph-history/ History of the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Geigy, Rudolf}} Category:Academic staff of the University of Basel Category:Scientists from Basel-Stadt Category:1902 births Category:1995 deaths Category:Deaths by euthanasia Category:20th-century Swiss biologists