Professor Dr. Richard Bruynoghe

Abstract

In 1921, Richard Bruynoghe and his student Joséph Maisin published on the first use of bacteriophages in a phage therapy context. At that time, Bruynoghe (a medical doctor) was affiliated as a professor at the KU Leuven (Belgium) for just over a decade, within the Bacteriological Institute which he founded and led. After a distinguished career (he was acting mayor of the city of Leuven-Belgium during the second World War), he received a special medical award in 1951 just before his retirement in 1952. In this perspective, he was asked to provide an overview of his research for a lay-audience within the local University magazine: Onze Alma Mater (Our alma mater). We, as current affiliates of the KU Leuven are honored to present some of his legacy, which to date has been largely overlooked in historical accounts.