Gerhard hansen biography

Gerhard Henrik Armauer Hansen was a Norwegian physician, remembered for his identification of the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae in 1873 as the causative agent of leprosy.
Gerhard Armauer Hansen (29 July 1841 – 12 February 1912) was a Norwegian physician known for his discovery of Mycobacterium leprae, the bacterium that.
He was born in Bergen, Norway in 1841 in a Danish family.

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Gerhard Henrik Armauer Hansen

Gerhard Henrik Armauer Hansen's discovery of the Mycobacterium leprae was historic for reasons beyond its significance to the fight against leprosy. As the first identification of a bacteria as the causative agent of a human disease, his study was a precursor to Robert Koch's conclusive demonstration of the bacterial cause of anthrax three years later. Although Hansen was unable to cultivate the leprosy bacillus in vitro as an experimental confirmation of his hypothesis. It has still not been done, and this is the reason why it has not been possible to develop a vaccine. His research helped to establish fundamental principles in immunology, bacteriological medicine and public health policy.

Gerhard Henrik Armauer Hansen was the eight of fifteen children. His mother was Elizabeth Concordia Schram, who was a member of a family of master joiners long established in Bergen. His father, Claus Hansen, was a wholesale merchant until the severe contraction of credit in 1848-1851 drove him into bankruptcy. He then worked as a cashier in a bank.

In 1859

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The curious doctor who changed the world

In the 1800s, leprosy became an increasing problem in Norway. The disease had been known since the Viking Age, but the disease now seemed to be rapidly on the rise, particularly in the small towns along the fjords of Western Norway.

Those affected gradually lost sensitivity and movement in the face and hands, or developed painful, pus-filled and foul-smelling nodular lesions or growths in the skin, especially on the nose and ears, around the eyes and on fingers and toes.

Photo:

Universitetsbiblioteket i Bergen

“Little was known about the causes of illness at that time. Physicians had multiple – and competing – theories, while the general population understood the condition to be destiny or a punishment from God. Theologians described leprosy as being present both on Earth and in purgatory at the same time, says science historian Magnus Vollset.

But as the young Bergen doctor Gerhard Armauer Hansen was to find out later that century, the disease was due to neither divine intervention nor human error, but to a small, rod-shaped

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Gerhard Henrik Armauer Hansen – A legend

Who discovered the leprosy bacillus? A question all of us have heard many a times during our student life. Moreover, the answer is one every undergraduate or post-graduate student has on the tip of his/her tongue. But have we ever paused to think about the unfavorable circumstances surrounding Hansen’s discovery of the Mycobacterium Leprae? As I read more and more about this great man, it would be an understatement to say that I am impressed. I am in awe of one of the greatest minds of his time – a mind which had the uncanny ability to think differently, a mind which could travel in less traveled roads, and finally, a mind with enough courage to stay true to his beliefs in the face of opposition even from his near and dear ones.

Humble beginning

Gerhard Henrik Armauer Hansen was born as the eighth of fifteen children in a small town Bergen in Norway on July 29, 1841. His mother was Elizabeth Concordia Schram^[1] and his father was Claus Hansen, a merchant who later faced bankruptcy.^[2] Due to financial constraints, Hansen had to resor