Haffkine, W.M. (Waldemar Mordecai Wolffe), 1860-1930.

Biographical Sketch: The son of a Jewish schoolmaster, W. M. Haffkine (born Vladimir Aaronovich Havkin) was born in the prosperous Black Sea port of Odessa, but received most of his early education in Berdiansk. In 1889 he moved to Paris and started working in Pasteur's world famous laboratory. His initial work on producing a cholera inoculation was successful. He produced an attenuated form of the bacterium by exposing it to blasts of hot air. A series of animal trials confirmed the efficacy of the inoculation. In July 1892, Haffkine performed his first human test on himself. During the Indian cholera epidemic of 1893, he travelled to Calcutta and introduced his new prophylactic inoculation. After initial criticism by the local medical bodies, it was widely accepted.

Biographical Sketch: At the outbreak of the plague epidemic in Bombay in October 1896, Haffkine was summonned to the city. He improvised a laboratory in the Grant Medical College and set to work on preventive and curative measures. A curative serum was tested in four months, but was not found to be reliable. Emphasis moved to a preventive vaccine using dead bacteria. A form useful enough for human trials was ready by January 1897, and tested on volunteers at the Byculla jail the next month. Use of the vaccine in the field started immediately. However, the medical community was not very sympathetic towards him. In 1902 the vaccine apparently caused nineteen cases of tetanus. An inquiry commission indicted Haffkine, who was relieved of the position of the Director of the Plague Laboratory. A review of this commission's report by the Lister Institute in England overturned this decision, put the blame squarely on the doctor who administered the injections, and exonerated Haffkine.

From the description of W.M. Haffkine collection [microfilm], 1892-1930. (National Library of Medicine). WorldCat record id: 61167739