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Obituary: Peter Kaufmann, 1942–2010
Placenta 32 (2011) 713–714
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Placenta journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/placenta
Obituary: Peter Kaufmann, 1942–2010
Peter Kaufmann, M.D. died on December 20, 2010 at the age of 68. He had been Chairman of Anatomy at the RWTH, the ‘Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule’ in Aachen, Germany and was one of the great placental anatomists and innovators of this field. Peter began his research on placental problems some 40 years earlier, and never left this challenging area of research. He died from a cancer that he had battled heroically since 2005. Peter Kaufmann was born on March 25, 1942 in Hamburg, Germany and is survived by his wife Helga, two sons and a daughter. In Hamburg, he went to primary school from 1948 to 1961 and accomplished his ‘Abitur,’ and then went on to study medicine from 1961 to 1968. Meanwhile, he had spent a winter semester at the University of Vienna in Austria. In the spring of 1967 he became a Dr. Med, and then spent a year in a small hospital at Soltau (near Münster) as a medical assistant. It is interesting here to note (and this is extracted from his own biography) that he did not really get along with his chief of surgery because Peter was much ahead of his time. Moreover, this surgeon was subsequently fired by the hospital administration. Meanwhile, Peter had become an anatomist and decided right then to enter science as his future fulltime activity. He thus went to Würzburg to study under T.H. Schiebler, a wellrespected placental anatomist, in order to comprehend the anatomical aspects that are characteristic of the placenta. That period in his life must also have been a very trying experience. In the first place, the salary was insufficient to feed his young family and, after a year or so, he was discharged because of his unwillingness to appropriately button up his white lab coat. He then entered the army as medical doctor for a three months stint in München, after which he returned to his scientific career and continued his research on the anatomy of the placenta. Indeed, this effort led to his receiving the ‘Martini–Preis’, and then his ‘habilitation’ (the ability to lecture to students). Peter became chief at the Department of 0143-4004/$ – see front matter doi:10.1016/j.placenta.2011.07.013
Anatomy in Hamburg, and was promoted to a professorship in 1979. From 1980 to 1984 he spent a variety of short research stints at the University of Loma Linda in California, and then followed the call to lead the Department of Anatomy at the RWTH in 1984. There, Peter continued his research on the anatomy of the placenta, and created the first European Institute of Placental Research. To my regret, and probably his own, Peter also served as Dean from 1986 to 2000 at that University, a job he did not really aspire to and which was associated with many administrative duties. From 1997 to 1999 he was President of the IFPA (International Federation of Placenta Associations) and, in 1999, his Institute was recognized by the WHO and the Rockefeller Foundation as an ‘International WHO Center for Implantation Problems’. Interestingly, Peter then also became the Director of the AplaGen Biotechnology Firm that developed complex molecules for therapeutic processes. Regrettably, after 2005 Peter decided to quit all scientific efforts for health reasons, and fully retired in March of 2007. For me, it has been a great privilege to have him as a co-author of the large volume of “Pathology of the Human Placenta”, to which he had made major contributions. Let me recite that history as readers of Placenta may be interested in it. When it became necessary in 1987 to produce a new edition of the original Benirschke/Driscoll volume on Pathology of the Human Placenta, we needed a new anatomist. The original volume had been prepared for the huge Henke-Lubarsch, the German ‘Handbook on Special Anatomy and Histology’, and Dr. F. Strauss of Bern, Switzerland had provided the anatomical aspects. Then I met Peter Kaufmann, who was well acquainted with human placentas and who had made major contributions to our understanding of this erstwhile mysterious organ. Peter, however, felt that I should continue with writing only on the pathological aspects of the human placenta. Fortunately, I was able to persuade him to write the anatomical portions, and he thus became a major contributor to this book. At the RWTH he had assembled a large number of colleagues and students whose research into the anatomy of placenta would become their main occupation; many have since become major contributors to our understanding of the human placenta and have made some major breakthroughs in that pursuit. There were, for instance, M. Castellucci, A. Demir, H.-G. Frank, B. Huppertz, M. Kadirov, G. Desoye, J.C. Kingdom, G. Kosanke and many others whose names were duly honored by Peter in his introduction to the book. Several of these colleagues published a dedication for Peter in “Placenta”, entitled “Placental morphology: From Molecule to Mother” [Placenta 27. Suppl. 1, 2008]. Here, many of Peter’s interests were highlighted and his never-ending search for answers to trophoblastic invasion, the control of trophoblast molecules, his special interest in the guinea pig placenta, and many other topics were highlighted and the eminence of his accomplishments were aptly summarized. Meanwhile, Peter and Helga had visited us several times in San Diego, made trips with his family to Baja California
714
K. Benirschke / Placenta 32 (2011) 713–714
(Mexico), gave Grand Rounds at the Medical School in San Diego, and my wife and I visited him in Vaals (Holland) where he chose to live and which is nearby the RWTH. It is significant here to note also that he was wise enough to nominate Graham Burton of Cambridge, UK to succeed him for any possible future editions of the text. It is now in its sixth edition. I will miss Peter immensely.
K. Benirschke* University of California Medical Center, 200 West Arbor Drive, San Diego, CA 92103, United States * Tel.: þ1 619 543 2618; fax: þ1 619 543 7711. E-mail address: [email protected]
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Placenta journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/placenta
Obituary: Peter Kaufmann, 1942–2010
Peter Kaufmann, M.D. died on December 20, 2010 at the age of 68. He had been Chairman of Anatomy at the RWTH, the ‘Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule’ in Aachen, Germany and was one of the great placental anatomists and innovators of this field. Peter began his research on placental problems some 40 years earlier, and never left this challenging area of research. He died from a cancer that he had battled heroically since 2005. Peter Kaufmann was born on March 25, 1942 in Hamburg, Germany and is survived by his wife Helga, two sons and a daughter. In Hamburg, he went to primary school from 1948 to 1961 and accomplished his ‘Abitur,’ and then went on to study medicine from 1961 to 1968. Meanwhile, he had spent a winter semester at the University of Vienna in Austria. In the spring of 1967 he became a Dr. Med, and then spent a year in a small hospital at Soltau (near Münster) as a medical assistant. It is interesting here to note (and this is extracted from his own biography) that he did not really get along with his chief of surgery because Peter was much ahead of his time. Moreover, this surgeon was subsequently fired by the hospital administration. Meanwhile, Peter had become an anatomist and decided right then to enter science as his future fulltime activity. He thus went to Würzburg to study under T.H. Schiebler, a wellrespected placental anatomist, in order to comprehend the anatomical aspects that are characteristic of the placenta. That period in his life must also have been a very trying experience. In the first place, the salary was insufficient to feed his young family and, after a year or so, he was discharged because of his unwillingness to appropriately button up his white lab coat. He then entered the army as medical doctor for a three months stint in München, after which he returned to his scientific career and continued his research on the anatomy of the placenta. Indeed, this effort led to his receiving the ‘Martini–Preis’, and then his ‘habilitation’ (the ability to lecture to students). Peter became chief at the Department of 0143-4004/$ – see front matter doi:10.1016/j.placenta.2011.07.013
Anatomy in Hamburg, and was promoted to a professorship in 1979. From 1980 to 1984 he spent a variety of short research stints at the University of Loma Linda in California, and then followed the call to lead the Department of Anatomy at the RWTH in 1984. There, Peter continued his research on the anatomy of the placenta, and created the first European Institute of Placental Research. To my regret, and probably his own, Peter also served as Dean from 1986 to 2000 at that University, a job he did not really aspire to and which was associated with many administrative duties. From 1997 to 1999 he was President of the IFPA (International Federation of Placenta Associations) and, in 1999, his Institute was recognized by the WHO and the Rockefeller Foundation as an ‘International WHO Center for Implantation Problems’. Interestingly, Peter then also became the Director of the AplaGen Biotechnology Firm that developed complex molecules for therapeutic processes. Regrettably, after 2005 Peter decided to quit all scientific efforts for health reasons, and fully retired in March of 2007. For me, it has been a great privilege to have him as a co-author of the large volume of “Pathology of the Human Placenta”, to which he had made major contributions. Let me recite that history as readers of Placenta may be interested in it. When it became necessary in 1987 to produce a new edition of the original Benirschke/Driscoll volume on Pathology of the Human Placenta, we needed a new anatomist. The original volume had been prepared for the huge Henke-Lubarsch, the German ‘Handbook on Special Anatomy and Histology’, and Dr. F. Strauss of Bern, Switzerland had provided the anatomical aspects. Then I met Peter Kaufmann, who was well acquainted with human placentas and who had made major contributions to our understanding of this erstwhile mysterious organ. Peter, however, felt that I should continue with writing only on the pathological aspects of the human placenta. Fortunately, I was able to persuade him to write the anatomical portions, and he thus became a major contributor to this book. At the RWTH he had assembled a large number of colleagues and students whose research into the anatomy of placenta would become their main occupation; many have since become major contributors to our understanding of the human placenta and have made some major breakthroughs in that pursuit. There were, for instance, M. Castellucci, A. Demir, H.-G. Frank, B. Huppertz, M. Kadirov, G. Desoye, J.C. Kingdom, G. Kosanke and many others whose names were duly honored by Peter in his introduction to the book. Several of these colleagues published a dedication for Peter in “Placenta”, entitled “Placental morphology: From Molecule to Mother” [Placenta 27. Suppl. 1, 2008]. Here, many of Peter’s interests were highlighted and his never-ending search for answers to trophoblastic invasion, the control of trophoblast molecules, his special interest in the guinea pig placenta, and many other topics were highlighted and the eminence of his accomplishments were aptly summarized. Meanwhile, Peter and Helga had visited us several times in San Diego, made trips with his family to Baja California
714
K. Benirschke / Placenta 32 (2011) 713–714
(Mexico), gave Grand Rounds at the Medical School in San Diego, and my wife and I visited him in Vaals (Holland) where he chose to live and which is nearby the RWTH. It is significant here to note also that he was wise enough to nominate Graham Burton of Cambridge, UK to succeed him for any possible future editions of the text. It is now in its sixth edition. I will miss Peter immensely.
K. Benirschke* University of California Medical Center, 200 West Arbor Drive, San Diego, CA 92103, United States * Tel.: þ1 619 543 2618; fax: þ1 619 543 7711. E-mail address: [email protected]