Thelma Gutsche There was a Man - The Life and Times of Sir Arnold Theiler, K.C.M.G. of Onderstepoort

487pp. Illustrated. Contents clean, binding tight. Jacket has some mild age-associated shelf rubbing and a short closed tear at the top edge of the front panel.

Inscribed by the author on the half-title page "gladly inscribed for my dear friend D.G.A. Banmeyer. With affectionate good wishes, Thelma Gutsche, 24/11/'80."

'The illustrious name of Max Theiler, Nobel laureate in Physiology and Medicine, has tended to overshadow that of his famous father, Sir Arnold Theiler K.C.M.G. who was honoured and respected in scientific circles throughout the world. It is doubtful who did more for the welfare of humanity. This authoritative biography puts the reader in a position to judge.

Emigrating from Switzerland to the Transvaal in 1891 as a qualified veterinary surgeon, Arnold Theiler within weeks completely severed his left hand in a chaff-cutter. His career was apparently ruined but through sheer courage and dogged persistence aided by his wife Emma (who did much of his laboratory work), he became a world-famous veterinary pathologist.

President Paul Kruger gave him his first opportunity and thence onward, Theiler was associated with the outstanding historical, scientific and political personalities of his times - General Louis Botha, Field-Marshal Jan Smuts, Lord baden Powell, the bacteriologists Robert Koch and Sir David Bruce, Lord Milner, Lord Selbourne, Viscount Bruce of Melbourne, Viscount Bledisloe and countless others. He was both the beneficiary and victim of South Africa's ferocious political life and from the Boer War onward, participated in historic events. The world at large prospered from his discoveries and after his death, his Government erected a statue in his honour. Animal husbandry continues to benefit from his work and his dauntless courage and determination continue to inspire his successors.'