Soper, Fred Lowe, 1893-1977

Variant names

Hide Profile

Physician; d. 1977.

From the description of Soper slide collection, 1935-1941. (Armed Forces Institute of Pathology Association Library). WorldCat record id: 70952600

Dr. Soper joined the International Health Division of the Rockefeller Foundation in 1920 and engaged in the hookworm campaigns in Brazil and Paraguay (1920-1927). From 1927-1942 he was Regional Director of the IHD, at Rio de Janeiro, and was active in the study and control of yellow fever and malaria. Dr. Soper was Director of the Pan American Sanitary Bureau for three terms (1947-1959).

From the description of Fred Lowe Soper papers, 1919-1975. (National Library of Medicine). WorldCat record id: 14326200

Dr. Fred L. Soper (1893-1977) was born in Hutchinson, KS. He received his AB in 1914 and his MS in 1916 from the University of Kansas. He received his MD degree from Rush Medical College of the University of Chicago in 1918. Later at Johns Hopkins University, he obtained a CPH in 1923 and a PhD in Public Health in 1925.

Dr. Soper joined the International Health Division of the Rockefeller Foundation in 1920 and engaged in the hookworm campaigns in Brazil (1920-1922) and Paraguay (1923-1927). From 1927-1942 he was Regional Director of the International Health Division headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, and was active in the study and control of yellow fever and malaria throughout South America. His guiding principles were strict discipline and tenacious commitment to eradicating disease. He developed methods to eradicate the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the urban vector of yellow fever. With the help of his Rockefeller colleague Dr. D.B. Wilson, Soper used a modification of this technique to eradicate the Anopheles gambiae mosquito from Brazil in 1939 and 1940. After its original invasion of Brazil in 1930, this malarial epidemic encompassed an area of over 18,000 square miles and was the worst of its kind in the Americas.

During World War II, Dr. Soper was Consultant on Epidemic Diseases to the Secretary of War (1942-1946). He initially served on the U.S. Typhus Commission and then became head of the Rockefeller Foundation Health Commission Typhus Team in North Africa and Italy (1943-1944). In 1944 he organized a malarial control demonstration in Italy, which provided the first evidence of the value of residual DDT in controlling malaria in the Mediterranean. Also, his revolutionary technique of delousing fully clothed individuals helped end the typhus threat in the civilian populations of North Africa, in British and American troops in Italy, and was used after the war throughout Europe. At the end of the war, and shortly thereafter, he headed yellow fever projects as Regional Director of the International Health Division for Africa and the Middle East, working to eradicate Anopheles gambiae from Egypt. Dr. Soper represented the Rockefeller Foundation at the IX, X, and XI Pan American Sanitary Conferences in 1934, 1938 and 1942.

In 1947, Soper was elected Director of the Pan American Sanitary Bureau (now the Pan American Health Organization) and was re-elected for three terms (1947-59). His involvement helped turn a relatively inactive program into a dynamic and rapidly growing one. He facilitated the Bureau's acceptance of a new role, as Regional Office of the World Health Organization for the Americas. This brought new facility to embark on new campaigns against communicable diseases, as well as bringing together previously independent teams of nurses, dentists, sanitary engineers, veterinarians, and statisticians to international public health work.

Honors and Medals Professor Leon Bernard Medal Segwick Memorial Medal National Academy of Medicine, Rio de Janeiro Pan American Medical Society, 1962 Walter Reed Medal, 1934 (Awarded in 1972) Fourth International Congresses on Tropical Medicine and Malaria, Washington1948 Salus Populi and Brazilian Ordem do Merito Medico Asociacion Fronteriza Mexciana-Estadounidense de Salubridad (ribbon), 1949 Consejo Consultivo de la Cuidad de Mexico y Del D.F. Jacobus Bontius 1592-1631 Praedux ille tropical artis medicinae Municipalidad de Lima National Academy of Medicine, Rio de Janeiro, 1929 II Congreso Panamericano de Pediatria (Mexico) ICAO, OACI, 1st Assembly Montreal1947 Delegate to X Conferencia Sanitaria Panamericana, Bogota, 1938 Pro Salute Novi Mundi, Buenos Aires, 1947 Salud: Simbolo de Fraternidad Americana, Conferencia Sanitaria Panamericana, Santiago, Chile, 1954 Tercer Congreso Pan-Americano de Oftalmologia Conferencia Sanitaria Panamericana, 1950 Primera Reunion Interamericana de Tifo, Mexico, D.F., 1945 Medals from Dominican Republic Director, Pan American Bureau, 1947-1959 Pan American Conference on Sanitation, Caracas, 1946 Orden Carlos J. Finlay, 1928 U.S. of America Typhus Commission Medal Samuel J. Crumbine Medal, 1964 IX Congreso Pan Americano Del Nino Caracas, 1947 Louis Pasteur Medal Theobald Smith Medal Colombia Medal Lascarette Award (Mrs. Soper), 1959 Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars, 1971 Universidad de Antioquia, 1947 Lasker Award, 1946 Rockefeller Foundation, 1934 Congreso Internacional de Microbiologia, 1950 American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (50th Anniversary), 1953 Conferencia Sanitaria Panamericana Organizacion Panamericana de la Salud Primer Congreso Venezolano de salud publica y tercera conferencia de unidades sanitarias, Caracas, 1954 Decima Conferencia Interamericana, Caracas, 1954

From the guide to the Fred Lowe Soper Papers, 1919-1975, (History of Medicine Division. National Library of Medicine)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Soper, Fred Lowe, 1893-1977. Fred Lowe Soper papers, 1919-1975. National Library of Medicine
referencedIn Alan Gregg Papers, 1900-1985 History of Medicine Division. National Library of Medicine
referencedIn John Jay Chapman papers Houghton Library
creatorOf Fred Lowe Soper Papers, 1919-1975 History of Medicine Division. National Library of Medicine
creatorOf Soper, Fred Lowe, 1893-. Soper slide collection, 1935-1941. Armed Forces Institute of Pathology Association Library
referencedIn Rockefeller Foundation. Rockefeller Foundation Archives,1910-(1912-1989). Rockefeller Archive Center
referencedIn Hench, Philip S., 1896-1965. Philip S. Hench Walter Reed Yellow Fever Collection, 1806-1995, bulk 1863-1974 Historical Collections, Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, University of Virginia
referencedIn Bugher, John C., 1901-1970. Papers, 1950-1966. Rockefeller Archive Center
referencedIn Gregg, Alan, 1890-1957. Alan Gregg papers, 1900-1985. National Library of Medicine
creatorOf Soper, Fred Lowe, 1893-1977. The world attack on disease, Mar. 4, 196-. National Library of Medicine
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Brazil. Yellow Fever Service. corporateBody
associatedWith Bugher, John C., 1901-1970. person
associatedWith Burney, Leroy E. (Leroy Edgar), 1906-1998. person
associatedWith Carter, Henry Rose, 1852-1925 person
correspondedWith Chapman, John Jay, 1862-1933 person
associatedWith Gorgas Memorial Institute corporateBody
associatedWith Gorgas Memorial Institute of Tropical and Preventive Medicine. corporateBody
associatedWith Gregg, Alan, 1890-1957. person
associatedWith Hench, Philip S. (Philip Showalter), 1896-1965 person
associatedWith Kean, Jefferson Randolph, 1860-1950 person
associatedWith Lazear, Jesse William, 1866-1900 person
associatedWith Pan American Sanitary Bureau. corporateBody
associatedWith Reed, Walter, 1851-1902 person
associatedWith Rockefeller Foundation. corporateBody
associatedWith Rockefeller Foundation. International Health Division. corporateBody
associatedWith Russell, Paul Farr, 1894- person
associatedWith United States. Army corporateBody
associatedWith United States of America Typhus Commission (USATC) (1942-1945) corporateBody
associatedWith Wegman, Myron E., 1908- person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Brazil
Paraguay
Brazil
Paraguay
Brazil
Subject
Communicable Disease Control
Disease Outbreaks
Hookworm Infections
Liver
Malaria
Public health
Typhus, Epidemic Louse
World health
Yellow fever
Occupation
Physicians
Activity

Person

Birth 1893-12-13

Death 1977-02-09

English

Information

Permalink: http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6280972

Ark ID: w6280972

SNAC ID: 56261759