Page 16 - VHSA - Onderstepoort 100 Years - Part 1

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ERSTEPOORT 100
The concept of becoming an Imperial Veterinary Institute (see Theiler’s vision be- low) had to be abandoned when the Labour Party with it’s anti-imperial policy won the general election in Great Britain in January 1924. Du Toit, who once again was acting Director during Theiler’s absence, continued to manage the Institute’s research programme with considerable skill under conditions of a severely reduced budget and he also increased vaccine production to new heights despite the continuing problematic agricultural situation. On 14 April 1924 Theiler, who had recently returned from his tour via Nairobi, opened the newly completed student’s hostel, another im- portant step in the establishment of the Veterinary Faculty. On the same day the S.A. Party lost an important by-election in Wakkerstroom, and Smuts announced
that a general election would be held in June. Late in April the 5th Pan-African Veterinary Conference was held in Nairobi. This time Viljoen was the official delegate of South Africa. In May, Andrews returned to England and in June E.V. Cowdry arrived at Onderstepoort as guest researcher. He had been working on rickettsia organisms at the Rockefeller Institute in the USA and had been invited by Theiler when he visited that institute the previous year, to visit Onderstepoort in order to investigate the possibility that heartwater is caused by a related organism.
When the National Party won the general election it changed the political face of the country. The new government immediate- ly started implementing economic reforms aimed at facilitating rural economic re- covery. One of the strongest reformers
On the international scene the British Government initiated a drive for the economic recovery of the Commonwealth, still suffering from the after-effects of the war. The severity of the post-war depression on the European continent is well illustrated by an anecdote involving Onderstepoort students. During 1923 the students organized a drive to collect funds in order to support struggling veterinary students in Europe. A total of
£60 was collected which was sufficient for the following donations: 8,5 million deutschmark to Germany (Berlin faculty) for books and the establishment of a library, 3,5 million kroner to Austria (Vienna) and a similar amount to Hungary, mainly for clothing and other support for students.
Theiler received requests for the training of veterinarians from several countries and he developed a vision of Onderstepoort becoming a Centre for Tropical and Subtropical Veterinary Medicine for the British Empire. He was supported in this vision by Smuts who involved him in the Imperial Conference in London in October 1923 where plans were made to create a commonwealth market. He also received invitations to visit Canada and the U.S.A. which Smuts approved. These invitations eventually led to
an extended 7-month world tour involving many leading laboratories in North America and the East, which considerably boosted Theiler’s international reputation. His standing as an international scientist was also recognized by Cambridge University which offered him a professorship for 5years, but which he declined.
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PART 1
Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute: General History
1908-2008
Years