1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:05,199 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:09,480 Speaker 1: Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, a 3 00:00:09,560 --> 00:00:12,719 Speaker 1: show that delivers a daily dose of little known history. 4 00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:17,160 Speaker 1: I'm Gabe Lucier, and in this episode, we're talking about 5 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:22,360 Speaker 1: the invaluable work of Valdemar Hofkin, a pioneering vaccine researcher 6 00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:25,639 Speaker 1: who risked his own life to save the lives of others. 7 00:00:28,440 --> 00:00:34,200 Speaker 1: The day was January tenth, eighteen ninety seven. Ukrainian scientist 8 00:00:34,479 --> 00:00:38,600 Speaker 1: Valdemar Hofkin injected himself with a vaccine he created to 9 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:44,000 Speaker 1: combat bubonic plague. Five months earlier, Bombay, India now known 10 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:47,239 Speaker 1: as Mumbai, had been struck by a potent epidemic of 11 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:50,919 Speaker 1: bubonic plague. With the death toll rising, the government had 12 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:54,560 Speaker 1: asked Hofkin to help develop a vaccine as fast as possible. 13 00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:57,880 Speaker 1: It was a tall order, but Hofkin had worked a 14 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:01,760 Speaker 1: similar miracle before, when a caller pandemic swept through Asia 15 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:05,600 Speaker 1: and Europe several years earlier, and so with a skeleton 16 00:01:05,720 --> 00:01:09,360 Speaker 1: crew of untrained assistants working in a two room laboratory, 17 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:12,520 Speaker 1: Hofkins set to work on what would become the world's 18 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:17,360 Speaker 1: first anti plague vaccine. In December eighteen ninety six, he 19 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:20,640 Speaker 1: used an early version of the vaccine to successfully inoculate 20 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:24,240 Speaker 1: rabbits against the plague. Then, after a bit more tinkering, 21 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:28,520 Speaker 1: he was ready to start human trials just one month later. However, 22 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:32,840 Speaker 1: instead of subjecting others to the unproven treatment, Hofkin chose 23 00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:35,760 Speaker 1: to use himself as a guinea pig, just as he 24 00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:40,760 Speaker 1: had done before with his cholera vaccine. Valdemar Hofkin was 25 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:45,560 Speaker 1: born on March fifteenth, eighteen sixty, in Odessa, Ukraine. At 26 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:48,360 Speaker 1: the time, Ukraine was part of the Russian Empire, and 27 00:01:48,440 --> 00:01:51,760 Speaker 1: many Jewish families living there, including his own, were often 28 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:57,640 Speaker 1: targeted by violent anti Semitic riots called pogrums. Historically, Russia 29 00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:01,040 Speaker 1: didn't have much of a Jewish population. That changed once 30 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:04,880 Speaker 1: it annexed Ukraine and other former territories of the Ottoman Empire. 31 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:09,520 Speaker 1: The Russian aversion to Jewish culture resulted in concerted government 32 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:13,200 Speaker 1: efforts to expel Jews from Ukraine and the surrounding regions. 33 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:17,359 Speaker 1: Pograms weren't officially sanctioned by the government, but they were 34 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:20,920 Speaker 1: tacitly approved as nothing was done to prevent them or 35 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:25,080 Speaker 1: to prosecute those responsible. One of those pogrims took place 36 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:28,200 Speaker 1: in Odessa in eighteen eighty one, and it forever changed 37 00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:31,640 Speaker 1: the life of Valdemar Hofkin. At the time, he was 38 00:02:31,639 --> 00:02:34,720 Speaker 1: a zoology student at the city's university, as well as 39 00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:37,600 Speaker 1: a member of the Odessa League of Self Defense, a 40 00:02:37,639 --> 00:02:40,520 Speaker 1: civic group that sought to protect the local Jewish community 41 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:43,960 Speaker 1: from violence. When a pogrim broke out there in eighteen 42 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:47,080 Speaker 1: eighty one, Hofkin was among those who fought to defend 43 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:50,679 Speaker 1: a Jewish man's home against an attack from Russian Army cadets. 44 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:54,400 Speaker 1: He was beaten and arrested for his actions, but thanks 45 00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:58,840 Speaker 1: to the intervention of his university mentor, Professor Eli Metchnikoff, 46 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:03,000 Speaker 1: Hofkin was eventually released. He continued his studies at the 47 00:03:03,080 --> 00:03:05,840 Speaker 1: university and went on to graduate with a doctorate in 48 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:09,240 Speaker 1: science in eighteen eighty four. He had hoped to stay 49 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:12,080 Speaker 1: on at the university as a professor, but because of 50 00:03:12,120 --> 00:03:16,800 Speaker 1: his Jewish heritage, that chance was denied him. Instead, he 51 00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:19,800 Speaker 1: traveled to Paris, where he took a position alongside his 52 00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:23,960 Speaker 1: mentor at the prestigious Louis Passetur Institute, the world leader 53 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:27,680 Speaker 1: in bacterial research at the time. He made several strides 54 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:30,560 Speaker 1: in the field during his time there, but Hofkins's first 55 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:33,840 Speaker 1: major breakthrough came in eighteen ninety two when he began 56 00:03:33,919 --> 00:03:37,640 Speaker 1: work on a preventive vaccine for cholera. With a cholera 57 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:42,000 Speaker 1: pandemic surging across two continents, Hofkin knew time was of 58 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:46,160 Speaker 1: the essence. He injected himself with the experimental vaccine that 59 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:50,960 Speaker 1: same year and thankfully survived without negative side effects. The 60 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:53,480 Speaker 1: success made him eager to try the vaccine on a 61 00:03:53,560 --> 00:03:56,880 Speaker 1: large group, so, with the permission of the British colonial government, 62 00:03:57,040 --> 00:03:59,680 Speaker 1: he traveled to India in eighteen ninety three to do 63 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:04,360 Speaker 1: just that. Early trials proved the efficacy of Hofkins's vaccine, 64 00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:07,600 Speaker 1: and over the next several years it was steadily distributed 65 00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:12,280 Speaker 1: throughout India and beyond. Given that remarkable success, it's no 66 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:15,520 Speaker 1: surprise that Hofkin was called in to help again when 67 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:18,880 Speaker 1: a bubonic plague epidemic broke out in India in September 68 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:23,560 Speaker 1: of eighteen ninety six. Initially, the British government downplayed the 69 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:27,120 Speaker 1: outbreak as they hoped to keep Bombay's valuable shipping ports 70 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:31,760 Speaker 1: open for business. However, the deadly disease continued to spread 71 00:04:31,839 --> 00:04:35,719 Speaker 1: unchecked through the densely populated city, claiming lives at nearly 72 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:39,279 Speaker 1: twice the rate of cholera. When the death toll became 73 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:43,120 Speaker 1: too large to ignore, the city's governor implored Hofkin to 74 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:47,800 Speaker 1: once again develop a life saving vaccine. Despite the enormity 75 00:04:47,839 --> 00:04:51,800 Speaker 1: of his task, Hofkin was afforded very few resources. He 76 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:54,440 Speaker 1: was set up in a small lab consisting of a 77 00:04:54,480 --> 00:04:57,760 Speaker 1: single room plus a hallway, and was assigned only one 78 00:04:57,839 --> 00:05:01,640 Speaker 1: clerk and three amateur assistants to help him. Two of 79 00:05:01,680 --> 00:05:04,960 Speaker 1: those assistants wound up quitting, unable to handle the pressure, 80 00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:09,760 Speaker 1: and the third reportedly suffered a nervous breakdown. Hofkin carried 81 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:12,840 Speaker 1: on regardless, relying on the same approach he had used 82 00:05:12,839 --> 00:05:17,440 Speaker 1: when developing his treatment for cholera. This involved combining microbes 83 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:20,400 Speaker 1: of the plague bacteria, which was carried by fleas that 84 00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:24,479 Speaker 1: fed on rodents, with the toxic products they produced. The 85 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:28,520 Speaker 1: result was a single injection vaccine ready for human trials 86 00:05:28,560 --> 00:05:32,160 Speaker 1: after a mere three months of development. It was that 87 00:05:32,279 --> 00:05:35,240 Speaker 1: form of the vaccine that Hofkin tested on himself on 88 00:05:35,320 --> 00:05:39,200 Speaker 1: January tenth, eighteen ninety seven. It was a risky move, 89 00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:41,760 Speaker 1: but he was so confident in his work that he 90 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:45,440 Speaker 1: actually injected a significantly higher dose than the one planned 91 00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:49,120 Speaker 1: for wider testing. Instead of three ccs of the serum, 92 00:05:49,400 --> 00:05:54,200 Speaker 1: he gave himself ten. Thankfully, Hofkins's faith in the vaccine 93 00:05:54,240 --> 00:05:57,200 Speaker 1: was not misplaced, and, aside from pain at the injection 94 00:05:57,360 --> 00:06:00,200 Speaker 1: site and a two day long fever, he experienced since 95 00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:04,919 Speaker 1: no major side effects. A few weeks later, Hopkins traveled 96 00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:07,120 Speaker 1: to a Bombay jail that was in the grips of 97 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:11,560 Speaker 1: a severe plague outbreak. He inoculated one hundred and forty 98 00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:14,919 Speaker 1: seven inmates who volunteered to receive the shot, and left 99 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:18,679 Speaker 1: one hundred and seventy two prisoners untreated as a control group. 100 00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:22,400 Speaker 1: In the days that followed, there were twelve cases and 101 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:26,479 Speaker 1: six deaths among the unvaccinated and just two cases and 102 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:31,560 Speaker 1: zero deaths among the vaccinated. Based on those results, hopkins 103 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:34,520 Speaker 1: vaccine was declared a success, and over the course of 104 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:37,799 Speaker 1: the next year, it was administered to hundreds of thousands 105 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:41,760 Speaker 1: of people, saving countless lives in the process. For the 106 00:06:41,839 --> 00:06:45,840 Speaker 1: second time in his life, Valdemar Hofkin had done the impossible. 107 00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:49,360 Speaker 1: He had created a viable vaccine for a deadly disease 108 00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:53,839 Speaker 1: from scratch and in record time. As thanks For his efforts, 109 00:06:53,880 --> 00:06:56,960 Speaker 1: he was knighted by Queen Victoria and was later appointed 110 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:01,480 Speaker 1: Director in chief of the Plague Research Laboratory, and he 111 00:07:01,560 --> 00:07:04,160 Speaker 1: was given new facilities and a staff of more than 112 00:07:04,240 --> 00:07:07,680 Speaker 1: fifty people to direct, and the vaccine he created and 113 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:11,400 Speaker 1: tested on himself became the foundation for a refined and 114 00:07:11,520 --> 00:07:15,480 Speaker 1: even more effective formula, providing greater protection against the bubonic 115 00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:20,840 Speaker 1: plague than ever thought possible. Unfortunately, the good times didn't 116 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:24,160 Speaker 1: last long for Hofkin. In March of nineteen o two, 117 00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:28,640 Speaker 1: disaster struck in a small village in Punjab, when nineteen 118 00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:33,640 Speaker 1: people died from tetanus after receiving Hofkins vaccine. Eighty eight 119 00:07:33,800 --> 00:07:37,840 Speaker 1: other villagers were inoculated that same day without incident, leading 120 00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:41,160 Speaker 1: investigators to conclude that the dose received by the nineteen 121 00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:45,640 Speaker 1: victims had been contaminated. Initial evidence pinned the blame on 122 00:07:45,760 --> 00:07:49,560 Speaker 1: Hofkins's lab in Bombay, where the fatally contaminated bottle had 123 00:07:49,560 --> 00:07:55,000 Speaker 1: been prepared several weeks earlier. The ensuing scandal destroyed Hofkins's reputation. 124 00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:57,480 Speaker 1: He was stripped of his position as the head of 125 00:07:57,480 --> 00:08:00,880 Speaker 1: the research lab and left India in disgrace shortly after. 126 00:08:02,200 --> 00:08:05,480 Speaker 1: It took five years of further inquiry for the truth 127 00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:09,200 Speaker 1: to be revealed. It turned out Hopkins's lab wasn't the 128 00:08:09,200 --> 00:08:12,400 Speaker 1: one at fault after all. Instead, it was the person 129 00:08:12,480 --> 00:08:16,480 Speaker 1: on site who administered the vaccine that day. Their careless 130 00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:20,480 Speaker 1: preparation wound up contaminating the bottle after it had been opened. 131 00:08:21,440 --> 00:08:24,800 Speaker 1: The news vindicated Hofkin, and he was quickly invited back 132 00:08:24,840 --> 00:08:27,240 Speaker 1: to India, where he assumed the role of Director in 133 00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:32,480 Speaker 1: chief at the Calcutta Biological Laboratory. However, things were never 134 00:08:32,600 --> 00:08:36,360 Speaker 1: quite the same. Despite his name being cleared, Hofkin was 135 00:08:36,400 --> 00:08:39,520 Speaker 1: barred from conducting trials and was only permitted to carry 136 00:08:39,520 --> 00:08:44,000 Speaker 1: out theoretical research from then on. He lamented those undue 137 00:08:44,120 --> 00:08:47,760 Speaker 1: restrictions in a letter to a colleague, writing quote, the 138 00:08:47,800 --> 00:08:51,240 Speaker 1: whole of the unjust punishment has been placed and remains 139 00:08:51,320 --> 00:08:55,079 Speaker 1: on me quite as before. On every occasion, in print 140 00:08:55,320 --> 00:08:58,600 Speaker 1: and in speech, it is repeated and kept alive that 141 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:04,199 Speaker 1: I was and am responsible for the case. Discouraged though 142 00:09:04,240 --> 00:09:08,160 Speaker 1: he was, Hofkin persisted in his research until his retirement 143 00:09:08,200 --> 00:09:11,920 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifteen. He returned to France that same year 144 00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:15,600 Speaker 1: and later moved to Lucerne, Switzerland, where he lived alone 145 00:09:15,720 --> 00:09:19,160 Speaker 1: until his death on October twenty sixth nineteen thirty, at 146 00:09:19,160 --> 00:09:22,720 Speaker 1: the age of seventy. He had returned to his homeland 147 00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:26,600 Speaker 1: of Ukraine only once before his passing, and then only briefly. 148 00:09:27,280 --> 00:09:30,400 Speaker 1: By that point, Russia had become the Soviet Union, and 149 00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:32,720 Speaker 1: there was little left of the culture he'd known in 150 00:09:32,760 --> 00:09:37,880 Speaker 1: his youth. Joseph Lister, the British pathologist and pioneer of 151 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:42,240 Speaker 1: antiseptic surgery, once referred to Hofkin as quote the savior 152 00:09:42,320 --> 00:09:46,319 Speaker 1: of humanity. It's an exceptional title for a man who 153 00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:49,800 Speaker 1: few have heard of today, but going strictly by the numbers, 154 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:53,800 Speaker 1: it's a pretty fitting one. Between eighteen ninety seven and 155 00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:58,240 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty five, twenty six million doses of Hofkins's plague 156 00:09:58,320 --> 00:10:02,880 Speaker 1: vaccine were distributed, and tests of the vaccine's efficacy revealed 157 00:10:02,920 --> 00:10:07,000 Speaker 1: a reduction in mortality between fifty and eighty five percent. 158 00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:11,400 Speaker 1: So while it's impossible to know exactly how many lives 159 00:10:11,400 --> 00:10:14,360 Speaker 1: he saved, it was far more than most people gave 160 00:10:14,440 --> 00:10:19,280 Speaker 1: him credit for. All these years later, Valdemar Hofkins still 161 00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:22,319 Speaker 1: hasn't gotten his full due, but there is at least 162 00:10:22,360 --> 00:10:25,000 Speaker 1: one place where his name is still held in reverence. 163 00:10:25,640 --> 00:10:29,160 Speaker 1: In nineteen twenty five, five years before his death, the 164 00:10:29,240 --> 00:10:33,440 Speaker 1: laboratory he once directed in Mumbai was renamed the Hofkin 165 00:10:33,559 --> 00:10:37,800 Speaker 1: Institute in his honor. Today, the researchers there continue his 166 00:10:37,880 --> 00:10:41,640 Speaker 1: work developing new ways to fight infectious diseases and to 167 00:10:41,720 --> 00:10:44,200 Speaker 1: better the lives of the people of India and of 168 00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:53,280 Speaker 1: all mankind. I'm Gabe Luzier and hopefully you now know 169 00:10:53,360 --> 00:10:56,559 Speaker 1: a little more about history today than you did yesterday. 170 00:10:58,240 --> 00:11:00,160 Speaker 1: If you'd like to keep up with the shows that 171 00:11:00,240 --> 00:11:03,880 Speaker 1: are following us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at TDI 172 00:11:04,480 --> 00:11:07,600 Speaker 1: HC Show, you can also get in touch with me 173 00:11:07,760 --> 00:11:12,360 Speaker 1: directly by writing to This Day at iHeartMedia dot com. 174 00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:14,960 Speaker 1: Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show, and thank 175 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:17,640 Speaker 1: you for listening. I'll see you back here again tomorrow 176 00:11:17,880 --> 00:11:19,920 Speaker 1: for another Day in History class.