Andrew Balfour

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Sir Andrew Balfour (1913)

Sir Andrew Balfour KCMG , CB , LL D (born March 21, 1873 in Edinburgh , † January 30, 1931 in Penshurst ) was a Scottish doctor , writer and rugby player .

Professional career

Andrew Balfour was educated at George Watson's College and studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh . In 1894 he finished his studies and entered his father's practice. Two years later he began medical training at Gonville and Caius College , Cambridge , specializing in disease prevention . Under the Brazilian microbiologist Alfredo Antunes Kanthack , he researched typhus there and later studied in Strasbourg , before completing a Master of Public Health degree in Cambridge . In 1898 he obtained his doctorate in Edinburgh ; He received a gold medal for his doctoral thesis on the toxicity of dyes in connection with water pollution . In 1900 he graduated from Edinburgh with a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Health .

In Africa

In April 1900, Balfour traveled to Southern Africa , where he served as a civilian medic in the Second Boer War. He was initially stationed in Estcourt and then took over the management of a quarantine camp for typhus in Pretoria . His experiences there shook him emphatically and influenced his further work:

“There one saw the disease at its worst, witnessed wretched, stuporous patients in stinking khaki taken from trains and ambulance wagons, heard the droning buzz of accompanying cohorts of filthy flies, saw peeling and crusting lips, teeth coated with sores, and tongues dry as those of parrots. One witnessed, all too frequently, the horror of excessive meteorism, the shock of haemorrhage, the tragedy of perforation. "

“You saw the disease in its worst form, experienced pathetic, drowsy patients in stinking khaki who came by trains and hospital cars. You could hear the roaring humming of the flocks of flies accompanying them, see peeling and crusty lips, teeth surrounded by wounds, and tongues as dry as parrots. Too often one has witnessed terribly bloated bodies, shocking bleeding and gastric rupture. "

- Andrew Balfour: War Against Tropical Diseases . Wellcome Bureau of Scientific Research, 2nd Edition, London 1921, p. 227

Balfour himself infected himself with typhus and returned to England in late 1901. During his time in southern Africa he became interested in the work of the Scottish parasitologist Patrick Manson and subsequently became enthusiastic about tropical medicine .

In 1902 Balfour married his wife Grace, and in the same year he became the first director of the newly established Wellcome Tropical Research Laboratory in Khartoum , Sudan , where he also assumed the position of Medical Officer for Health . On his departure to Africa, Henry Wellcome gave him a dinner in London, the most prominent guest of which was Henry Morton Stanley . After two years he was appointed health advisor to the Sudanese colonial government, which enabled him to establish what he himself said was a "health tyranny" with its own police unit. His new role in Sudan brought him access to the highest social circles, including Lord Cromer , Lord Kitchener and Governor General Sir Reginald Wingate ; Former US President Theodore Roosevelt toured the Wellcome laboratory and was extremely impressed. During his time in Khartoum, research by Nobel Prize winner Ronald Ross enabled him to reduce malaria deaths by 90 percent by eliminating the breeding grounds for mosquitos and improving drinking and sewage systems. In 1907 the Khedive of Egypt awarded him the Osmanje Order, 4th class.

The staff of the Wellcome Tropical Research Laboratory in Khartoum with Andrew Balfour (seated, in a white suit)

It was also during this period that Balfour participated in four Wellcome Laboratory reports , and in 1911 he and Major RG Archibald wrote a review of advances in tropical medicine, anticipating the 1912 work of the Tropical Disease Bureau . He oversaw the establishment of a floating laboratory, a gift from Henry Wellcome to the Sudanese government, which allowed scientific work to be carried out on the northern arms of the Nile , particularly to understand blood diseases. Balfour's most important work was his research into syphilis .

Back in England

In 1912 Andrew Balfour was named Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George . In 1913 he returned to England for health reasons to set up the Wellcome Bureau of Scientific Research in London, which later developed into the Wellcome Museum of Medical Science . In the same year he traveled to South America and the West Indies for research purposes .

After the outbreak of World War I Balfour served in the Royal Army Medical Corps and achieved the rank of Lieutenant Colonel (lieutenant colonel). In 1914 he was stationed in France , later in Moudros , Thessaloniki and Egypt . When he returned to England, he was appointed Scientific Advisor to the Surgeon-General for the British Forces in East Africa . In 1918 he was awarded the Order of the Bath . and mentioned in the Despatches . In 1920 he received the Mary Kingsley Medal from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine . In 1923 Andrew Balfour was appointed director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and oversaw the construction of a new school. From 1925 to 1927 he was also President of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene .

In 1928 Balfour suffered a nervous breakdown , probably due to excessive workload. The British Medical Journal reported that he was recovered, but according to other sources, he had a complete breakdown. In 1930 he became Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George and thus Sir Andrew Balfour. He continued to suffer from severe depression and was admitted to Cassel Hospital in Penshurst . There Andrew Balfour fell or jumped out of the window, and his now frozen body was later found on the clinic grounds.

Literary work

In addition to his medical publications, Andrew Balfour also published adventure novels . While still a student at Cambridge, he published his first book By Stroke of Sword . His novels told historical adventures that were primarily set in Scotland and had medical implications.

Rugby career

The Scottish rugby team of 1896, with Andrew Balfour (back row, 2nd from left)

Andrew Balfour was an avid sportsman and as a teenager as an amateur - boxer and renowned rugby poker players active. He played for the Watsonians RFC , a club made up of former students at George Watson's College . From 1895 he played for the Scottish national team, which won the Home Nations Championship in 1896 that same year . 1896/97 Balfour was a student at Cambridge and played for the team there. In 1897 Balfour played at the Home Nations Championship in 1897 only in the final for the Scottish national team, which lost to England, and was then never again set up, but played on in the university team.

After the end of his career as a player, Balfour remained connected to the sport as a member of the London Scottish FC and became national selector for the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU). In the 1929/30 season he was Vice President of the SRU and President the following season, but died during this term.

Publications

Scientific writings

  • With CJ Lewis: Medicine, Public Health and Preventive Medicine (1902)
  • Memoranda on Medical Diseases in Tropical and Sub-Tropical Areas (1916)
  • War Against Tropical Disease (1920)
  • Reports to the Health Committee of the League of Nations on Tuberculosis and Sleeping Sickness in Equatorial Africa (1923)
  • With HH Scott: Health Problems of the Empire (1924)

Novels

literature

  • Howard Marshall, Jordon, JP: Oxford v Cambridge, The Story of the University Rugby Match . Clerke & Cockeran, London 1951.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Sir Andrew Balfour . In: British Medical Journal . 1, No. 3657, February 7, 1931, pp. 245-246. PMC 2313829 (free full text).
  2. ↑ a b c d Ahmed AA Adeel: “Andrew Balfour, of Khartoum. A pioneer of tropical medicine worldwide. ”In: Sudanese Journal of Paediatrics . Volume 13, issue 1/2013. Pp. 63-74
  3. ↑ Penny Bailey: Henry Wellcome's tropical medicine laboratories on wellcome.ac.uk v. December 9, 2008
  4. ↑ London Gazette . No. 28006, HMSO, London, March 22, 1907, p. 2001 ( PDF , accessed on September 23, 2013, English).
  5. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 28617, HMSO, London, June 11, 1912, pp. 4299–4300 ( PDF , accessed on September 23, 2013, English).
  6. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 30450, HMSO, London, January 1, 1918, p. 7 ( PDF , accessed September 23, 2013, English).
  7. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 30521, HMSO, London, February 8, 1918, p. 1933 ( PDF , accessed September 23, 2013, English).
  8. ↑ Chronology of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine ( Memento of July 24, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  9. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 33566, HMSO, London, December 31, 1929, p. 4 ( PDF , accessed February 18, 2010, English).
  10. ↑ Sir Andrew Balfour (1873-1931) . In: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine . Retrieved September 23, 2013.
  11. ↑ Greenwood, David; Antimicrobial drugs: chronicle of a twentieth century medical triumph Oxford University Press US, (2008) pg. 271, ISBN 978-0-19-953484-5
  12. ^ Andrew Balfour rugby profile Scrum.com
  13. ^ Terry Godwin: The International Rugby Championship 1883-1983 . Willow Books, London 1984, ISBN 0-00-218060-X , p. 48.
  14. ↑ AMC Thorburn: The Scottish Rugby Union, Official History . Scottish Rugby Union and Collins Publishers, 1985, ISBN 0-00-435697-7 , p. 124.
personal data
SURNAME Balfour, Andrew
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Scottish doctor, writer and rugby player
DATE OF BIRTH March 21, 1873
PLACE OF BIRTH Edinburgh
DATE OF DEATH January 30, 1931
Place of death Penshurst