Dr Max Theiler, undated. (Photo source: Famousbio)
Since the Nobel Prize’s inception in 1901 South Africa has produced no less than 11 recipients. The nation’s first recipient of this prestigious prize is Dr Max Theiler, who was born in Pretoria on 30 January 1899. Max is also the first African-born Nobel laureate. His father is Sir Arnold Theiler, the pioneer of veterinary science in South Africa. Max was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1951 “for his discoveries concerning yellow fever and how to combat it”, according to the Nobel Foundation.
Max’s discovery of the virus which causes yellow fever is particularly significant now during the time of the global Covid-19 pandemic which is, of course, also caused by a deadly virus. The fact that a son of South Africa’s soil made such an important and life-changing discovery is a feather in the country’s cap. Before Max’s discovery, yellow fever was a fairly common disease which claimed many lives in the world’s tropical zones. Yellow fever is caused by a virus which is transmitted to humans by insects and also person-to-person.
After Max studied medicine at the University of Cape Town Medical School (1916-1918) and the London School of Tropical Medicine (early 1920s), he started his career at the Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts in the USA. In 1930 Max joined the world-renowned Rockefeller Foundation in New York. It was during his time at this private foundation that he conducted his ground-breaking research on yellow fever and other lethal viral diseases.
Max managed to successfully transmit the yellow fever virus to mice which laid the foundation for further research. After the virus was transmitted between mice, a weakened variant of the virus was obtained and this variant was successfully used to make rhesus monkeys immune against the disease. In 1937 Max and his research team managed to obtain an even weaker variant of the virus, namely 17D. This variant was used to develop a safe human vaccine which is still effective today. As a result, millions of people were successfully vaccinated and saved from potential death.
In addition to the Nobel Prize, Max was also honoured by the country of his birth with a commemorative stamp that was issued to mark his outstanding achievement.
In 1964 Max retired from the Rockefeller Foundation and he joined the esteemed Yale University’s School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut in the USA as an epidemiologist. At Yale University Max established himself as an outstanding academic; he was professor of epidemiology and public health until 1967. He died in 1972 at the age of 73.
Other South African recipients of the Nobel Prize include, among others, Allan Cormack (Physiology or Medicine, 1979); Aaron Klug (Chemistry, 1982); Desmond Tutu (Peace, 1984); Nadine Gordimer (Literature, 1991); Nelson Mandela (Peace, 1993); F.W. de Klerk (Peace, 1993); and J.M. Coetzee (Literature, 2003).
Who will follow in Dr Max Theiler’s footsteps and become South Africa’s next Nobel Prize recipient?
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