Kurt Huldschinsky

Kurt Huldschinsky (* 1883 in Berlin; † 15 December 1940 in Alexandria, Egypt) was a German Pediatrician of Polish heritage (Prussian). He served in the Wehrmacht as a field medic in WWI. Later, as a medical doctor and research scientist, he successfully demonstrated in the winter of 1918/1919 how rickets could be treated with Ultra-violet lamps. At that time perhaps half of all German children suffered from rickets. It was already understood that this disease was caused by Calcium deficiency. Up to that point, heliotherapy was a common protocol for many illnesses and showed promise in relieving the effects of rickets. The bio-chemical mechanism triggered in the human dermis by the sun's electromagnetic radiation was not fully understood, and scientists were exploring mostly the long wavelength (red) end of the spectrum. To generate artificial UV, Dr. Huldschinsky originally tried to adapt existing X-Ray technology.

As Dr. Huldschinsky was Jewish, he needed to flee Germany so emigrated himself, his Christian wife Maria (nee Straser) and their only child Eva to Egypt in 1934. There, he continued his professional work in healthcare delivery and published further medical science articles. It was there in Alexandria where he died on 15 December 1940 from malignant hyperthermia after a minor operation to deal with a thrombosis.