Editing Gerhard Armauer Hansen

{{Short description|Norwegian physician (1841–1912)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2014}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name                    = Gerhard Henrik Armauer Hansen
| image                   = Gerhard Henrik Armauer Hansen.jpg
| image_size              =
| caption                 = Gerhard Armauer Hansen
| birth_date              = {{birth date|df=yes|1841|7|29}}
| birth_place             = [[Bergen]], Norway
| death_date              = {{death date and age|df=yes|1912|2|12|1841|7|29}}
| death_place             = [[Florø]], Norway
| residence               =
| citizenship             =
| nationality             =
| ethnicity               =
| field                   = [[Epidemiology]]
| work_institution        =
| alma_mater              = [[University of Oslo]]
| doctoral_advisor        =
| doctoral_students       =
| known_for               =
| author_abbreviation_bot =
| author_abbreviation_zoo =
| prizes                  = [[Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav]]
| religion                =
| footnotes               =
}}

[[File:Armauer Hansen - Jo Visdal - Botanisk hage - Bergen 3.jpg|thumb|250 px|Bust of Dr. Armauer Hansen, Botanical garden, University of Bergen, Norway]]

'''Gerhard Henrik Armauer Hansen''' ({{IPA|no|ˈɡæ̂rhɑɖ ɑrˈmæ̀ʉər ˈhɑ̂nsn̩}}; 29 July 1841 – 12 February 1912) was a [[Norwegians|Norwegian]] physician, remembered for his identification of the [[Bacteria|bacterium]] ''[[Mycobacterium leprae]]'' in 1873 as the causative agent of [[leprosy]].<ref name=Hansen_1874>{{cite journal | author = Hansen GHA | title = Undersøgelser Angående Spedalskhedens Årsager (Investigations concerning the etiology of leprosy) | journal = Norsk Mag. Laegervidenskaben | year = 1874 | volume = 4| pages =1–88 | language = no }}</ref><ref name=Irgens_2002>{{cite journal |author=Irgens L |title=The discovery of the leprosy bacillus |journal=Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen |volume=122 |issue=7 |pages=708–9 |year=2002 |pmid=11998735}}</ref> His distinguished work was recognized at the International Leprosy Congress held at Bergen in 1909.<ref>{{cite web|title=Gerhard Armauer Hansen|url=https://snl.no/Gerhard_Armauer_Hansen|author=Svein Atle Skålevåg|publisher=Store norske leksikon|access-date=January 1, 2017}}</ref>

== Life ==
Hansen was born in [[Bergen]], Norway, and attended the [[Bergen Cathedral School]]. He worked at [[Rikshospitalet]] in [[Oslo|Christiania]] (now Oslo) and as a doctor in [[Lofoten]]. In 1868 Hansen returned to Bergen to study leprosy while working at Lungegård Hospital ({{Lang|no|Lungegårdshospitalet}}) with [[Daniel Cornelius Danielssen]], a noted expert.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.5858/2000-124-0496-TLOAH|pmid=10747301|title=The Legacy of Armauer Hansen|year=2000|last1=Jay|first1=Venita|journal=Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine|volume=124|issue=4|pages=496–497}}</ref>

Leprosy was regarded as largely [[hereditary]] or otherwise [[miasma theory of disease|miasmic]] in origin. Hansen concluded on the basis of [[Epidemiology|epidemiological]] studies that leprosy was a specific [[disease]] with a specific cause.<ref name=Irgens_1984>{{cite journal |doi=10.1097/00000372-198408000-00008 |author=Irgens L |last2=Rabson |first2=S. M. |title=The discovery of Mycobacterium leprae. A medical achievement in the light of evolving [[scientific method]]s |journal=Am J Dermatopathol |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=337–43 |year=1984 |pmid=6388392}}</ref> In 1870–71 Hansen travelled to [[Bonn]] and [[Vienna]] to gain the training necessary for him to prove his [[hypothesis]].<ref name="Hansen">{{cite web | url=http://www.whonamedit.com/doctor.cfm/596.html | title=Gerhard Henrik Armauer Hansen | work=whonamedit.com | access-date=22 March 2007}}</ref> In 1873, he announced the discovery of ''Mycobacterium leprae'' in the tissues of all people with the condition, although he did not identify them as bacteria, and received little support.<ref name=Hansen /> The discovery was made with a "new and better" microscope.<ref>[http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/Bergenseren-som-loste-lepra-gaten-6992716.html Bergenseren som løste lepra-gåten] Aaftenposten . 16 September 2012</ref>

In 1879 Hansen gave tissue samples to [[Albert Neisser]], who then successfully [[Staining|stained]] the bacteria and announced his findings in 1880, claiming to have discovered the disease-causing organism. There was some dispute between Neisser and Hansen, Hansen as discoverer of the bacillus and Neisser as identifier of it as the [[etiology|etiological]] agent. Neisser tried to downplay the assistance of Hansen. Hansen's claim was weakened by his failure to produce a pure [[microbiological culture]] in an artificial medium, or to prove that the [[Bacillus (shape)|rod-shaped]] organisms were infectious. Further, Hansen had attempted to infect at least one female patient with the nodular form of leprosy without consent, and although no damage was caused, the case ended up in court and Hansen lost his post at the hospital. The case helped introduce [[informed consent]] for [[Human subject research|medical research]] in Norway.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://nbl.snl.no/Gerhard_Armauer_Hansen|title=  Gerhard Armauer Hansen, Lege|publisher =    Norsk biografisk leksikon|author= Ole Didrik Lærum|access-date= January 1, 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ervik |first=Torill Sommerfelt |last2= |first2= |date=28 February 2023 |title=150 år siden den norske legen oppdaget leprabasillen og forandret verden |url=https://www.forskning.no/bakterier-historie-partner/150-ar-siden-den-norske-legen-oppdaget-leprabasillen-og-forandret-verden/2158382 |access-date=2024-10-27 |website=www.forskning.no |language=nb-NO}}</ref>

Hansen remained medical officer for leprosy in Norway and it was through his efforts that the leprosy acts of 1877 and 1885 were passed, leading to a steady decline of the disease in Norway from 1,800 known cases in 1875 to just 575 cases in 1901.

Hansen had had [[syphilis]] since the 1860s but died of [[cardiovascular disease|heart disease]]. He was an atheist.<ref>[http://www.whonamedit.com/doctor.cfm/596.html Biography of Gerhard Henrik Armauer Hansen] ''whonamedit.com''</ref><ref>[http://www.japi.org/march_2015/044_gerhard.pdf Gerhard Armauer Hansen (1814–1912)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161223092306/http://www.japi.org/march_2015/044_gerhard.pdf |date=23 December 2016 }} Journal of the Association of Physicians of India, vol 63, March, 2015</ref>

==Women's rights==
He was a co-founder and a board member of the Bergen chapter of the [[Norwegian Association for Women's Rights]], led by his sister, prominent women's rights advocate {{Ill|Amalie Hansen (feminist)|lt=Amalie Hansen|no|Amalie Hansen}}.<ref>Aasen, Elisabeth (2020). ''Bergens små og store døtre''. Bergen: Bodoni forlag. {{ISBN|978-8284030722}}.</ref><ref>[https://www.arkivportalen.no/contributor/no-BBA_arkiv000000037572 Bergen Kvinnesaksforening], Arkivportalen</ref>

==Honors==
* Leprosy Museum ({{Lang|no|Lepramuseet}}) at St. Jørgen Hospital in Bergen has been dedicated to Hansen.<ref>{{cite web
|url= https://medisinskhistoriebergen.wordpress.com/2015/05/06/st-jorgen-hospital-lepramuseet/|title=   St. Jørgen hospital (Lepramuseet)
|publisher =  Medisinsk historie i Bergen  |date= 6 May 2015|access-date= January 1, 2017 }}</ref>
* [[Haukeland University Hospital]] has established {{Lang|no|Armauer Hansens hus}} as a research facility operated by the [[University of Bergen]].<ref>{{cite web
|url= https://helse-bergen.no/steder/haukeland/armauer-hansens-hus|title=  Armauer Hansens hus  |publisher =  Haukeland universitetssjukehus
|date= 6 May 2015 |access-date= January 1, 2017 }}</ref>
* In Jerusalem, a 19th-century leprosarium has borne Hansen's name since 1950. It has been reconstructed into an art center while preserving the physician's surname in its title.<ref>[http://israelightly.wordpress.com/2013/05/31/the-hansen-compound-from-leper-hospital-to-multimedia-art-center/ The Hansen Compound: From Leper Hospital to Multimedia Art Center]. israelightly.wordpress.com. 31 May 2013</ref>
*Armauer Hansen Research Institute (AHRI) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia under the ministry of Health is named after Hansen. AHRI is a biomedical research institute working in tuberculosis, HIV, malaria, leishmaniasis training, and research.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ahri.gov.et/|title=Armauer Hansen Research Institute|website=ahri.gov.et}}</ref>
{{Commons category}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Gerhard Armauer Hansen}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hansen, Gerhard Armauer}}
[[Category:1841 births]]
[[Category:1912 deaths]]
[[Category:Physicians from Bergen]]
[[Category:People educated at the Bergen Cathedral School]]
[[Category:University of Oslo alumni]]
[[Category:Norwegian atheists]]
[[Category:Norwegian medical researchers]]
[[Category:Norwegian physicians]]
[[Category:Leprologists]]
[[Category:Norwegian public health doctors]]
[[Category:Recipients of the St. Olav's Medal]]
[[Category:Norwegian Association for Women's Rights people]]