Israel Jacob Kligler

Israel Jacob Kligler
ישראל יעקב קליגלר
1928 in Geneva
Born(1888-04-24)24 April 1888
Kopychyntsi, Galicia, Austro-Hungarian Empire
Died23 September 1944(1944-09-23) (aged 56)
Resting placeMount of Olives, Jerusalem
OccupationMicrobiologist
Known forEradication of Malaria and Pioneer in Public Health
SpouseHelen (Ahuva) Friedman
ChildrenDavid Aaron Kligler MD
Parent(s)Aaron Kligler and Fruma (née Fajgel Gittman)

Israel Jacob Kligler (24 April 1888 – 23 September 1944) was a microbiologist, Zionist and humanist. Kligler was born in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, educated in the United States and spent most of his career in Mandatory Palestine, but died before the creation of the State of Israel. He was one of the first four professors of the Hebrew University and the founder of Department of Hygiene and Bacteriology of the university, which he headed until his death in 1944. Kligler was one of the pioneers of modern medical research in Mandatory Palestine, studying as varied a field as Bacteriology, Parasitology, Virology, Nutrition, Epidemiology and Public Health. He developed the Kligler Iron Agar medium for the isolation and identification of intestinal bacteria, which is still in use today.[1]

Kligler's was a key contributor to the eradication of malaria in Mandatory Palestine, a task that was completed after his death.[2][3][4][5]

  1. ^ Skillern, Janet K.; Overman, Timothy L. (1983). "Oxidase Testing from Kligler's Iron Agar and Triple Sugar Iron Agar Slants". Current Microbiology. 8 (5): 269–271. doi:10.1007/BF01577726. S2CID 26344054.
  2. ^ Kligler, Israel Jacob (1930). The Epidemiology and Control of Malaria in Palestine. University of Chicago Press. p. 240. Archived from the original on 24 January 2019. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
  3. ^ Greenberg, Zalman; Alexander, Anton (2011). "Israel Jacob Kligler: The story of "A Little Big Man"". Korot, the Israel Journal of the History of Medicine and Science. 21: 175–206. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014.
  4. ^ Anton Alexander, "The key to successful malaria eradication in Palestine/Israel 90 years ago", MalariaWorld, 1 June 2012
  5. ^ Friedman, Matti (25 April 2012). "The man who battled Israel's most formidable enemy — the mosquito". The Times of Israel.