Walther Hesse
| Walther Hesse | |
|---|---|
| Born |
December 27, 1846 Bischofswerda, Lusatia |
| Died | July 19, 1911 |
| Fields | Microbiology |
| Alma mater | University of Leipzig |
| Doctoral advisor | Ernst Leberecht Wagner |
| Known for | developing agar as a medium for culturing microorganisms |
Walther Hesse (27 December 1846 – 19 July 1911) is best known for his work in microbiology, specifically his work in developing agar as a medium for culturing microorganisms.
He was born in Bischofswerda, Lusatia, as one of 12 children in the family of a medical practitioner, Hesse attended the Kreuzschule in Dresden and studied medicine at the University of Leipzig with Ernst Leberecht Wagner from 1866 till 1870, when he received his doctorate in pathology. Afterwards he participated in the Franco-Prussian War, and therein in the Battle of Gravelotte.
As a ship's doctor on the New York Line 1872/73 he examined seasickness – his works were classified by Prof. Gavingel of Le Havre as the first scientific study on this topic at all. In New York City, Hesse met his later wife Angelina Fanny Eilshemius. The Eilshemius family were immigrants of Dutch-German origin – Angelina's brother Louis Eilshemius is known as an important painter, Swiss painter Louis Léopold Robert was their common grandfather. Walther and Angelina married 1874 in Geneva, together with Angelina's sister and a nephew of Louis Agassiz.
After some years as a medical practitioner in Pirna and Zittau, Hesse went to Schwarzenberg, Saxony in 1877. His investigations in Schneeberger Bergkrankheit, responsible for the commonly early death of miners in the Ore Mountains, are credited as the first unveiling of working conditions as cause of an interior disease (lung cancer). Within his time in Schwarzenberg, he took a year with Max Joseph von Pettenkofer at Munich to deepen his knowledge in occupational hygiene.
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