European Journal of

The pioneers of pediatric medicine

Pediatrics

9 Springer-Verlag1991

Eur J Pediatr (1991) 150 : 451

Hans-Ulrich Zellweger (1909-1990) Hans Zellweger was born in Lugano, Switzerland in 1909 and grew up in a patrician household in Chur, the capital of Graubtinden canton. H e studied medicine in Zurich, Hamburg, R o m e and Berlin before receiving his doctorate in Zurich in 1934. Following 3 years of clinical training at the cantonal hospital in Lucerne, Zellweger was medical assistant for 2 years to the great Albert Schweitzer in Lambarene. Between 1940 and 1951 he was house physician and later senior consultant under Guido Fanconi at the children's hospital in Zurich; it was during this almost 12-year period that he qualified as a lecturer. In 1950 Zellweger organized the Sixth International Congress for Paediatrics, held in Zurich, as the right-hand man of the congress president, Fanconi. In 1951 Hans Zellweger - a Rockefeller Foundation Fellow - worked at both Tulane University and Columbia University in the United States. A short time later he was appointed Professor and Chairman of the Department of Paediatrics at the highly respected American University in Beirut, Lebanon - at that time a flourishing town in a peaceful country. From 1959 until his retirement in 1977, Zellweger was Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. It was here in 1960 with the assistance of the eminent zoo-embryologist Emil Witschi - that he founded one of the first laboratories for clinical cytogenetics in the United States. Thereafter he became Director of the Division of Medical Genetics, a division he himself was instrumental in founding, and in 1962 founded a clinic for neuromuscular diseases - the Iowa Muscle Clinic. The major emphasis of the clinic is the treatment of those afflicted with Duchenne's disease and it was one of the first clinics in the United States devoted to such disorders. In 1976 he organized, together with Jane Simpson, the Regional Genetic Consultation Service, serving the whole state of Iowa, with 15 genetic counselling clinics throughout the state. Zellweger held the position of Clinical Director of this programme until April 1980. Hans Zellweger was not only a highly knowledgeable and enthusiastic "all-round" paediatrician and a sympathetic physician but also a painstaking and talented clinical researcher and a rousing teacher. H e had an outstanding reputation worldwide in the field of neuromuscular disorders but also gathered a wealth of experience relating to other genetic disorders as well as dysmorphic syndromes and birth defects. Until his death, he remained an active physician and scientist, continuing to address questions relating to the Prader-Wilti syndrome -

and above all the cerebo-hepato-renal syndrome that bears his name, particularly with reference to peroxisomal metabolic disturbances. The lecture entitled "From the syndrome to the genetic defect", which the 80-yearold Zellweger delivered with such scientific fervour less than 2 weeks before his death, was a truly memorable experience for all those fortunate enough to be present. Even after living outside E u r o p e for four decades, Hans Zellweger - polyNot and cosmopolitan - felt closely related to E u r o p e a n history and culture and made every effort to "stay in touch". H e was the very opposite of the super-specialist, which also explains his belief that those clinicians who wish to maintain an interest in a wide range of subjects cannot or should not at the same time perform basic research. Zellweger, who was also a proficient and prolific author, received numerous awards and prizes as well as an honorary doctorate from the University of Geneva. His countless friends, students and colleagues will keep him in fond remembrance.

H.-R. Wiedemann, Kiel

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