[Dr Leonor Michaelis and early days of Hokkaido University School of Medicine; episodes among three medical researchers in the roaring twenties].

Abstract

Little has been known about the personal history of Dr. Takaichi Mohri (Nakashima), the first professor of department of hygiene at Hokkaido University School of Medicine. We, therefore, have been inquiring academic backgrounds of Dr. Mohri for two decades. These inquiries show interesting episodes between Dr. Leonor Michaelis, one of the biggest names in enzymologists, and early days of this Medical School. In this article, we describe that at least two professors, Drs. Takaichi Mohri and Kaoru Ohguro, were in good acquaintances with Dr. Michaelis as follows; 1) the latter half of 1921, Dr. Ohguro visited a laboratory of Dr. Michaelis in Berlin, 2) from November 1922 to June 1923, Dr. Michaelis in Nagoya collaborated with Dr. Mohri in Sapporo, 3) Dr. Michaelis in Nagoya visited Dr. Ohguro's house and office in Sapporo at March 1925, and 4) at the same occasion, Dr. Michaelis made his lecture on biochemistry in Hokkaido University School of Medicine. Since Drs. Ohguro and Mohri were classmates of the University of Tokyo Faculty of Medicine, Dr. Ohguro could introduce Dr. Michaelis to Dr. Mohri who used to be a graduate student in department of biochemistry. As a result of relationships, Drs. Michaelis and Mohri published a paper entitled "Eine weitere Methode zur Bestimmung des isoelektrischen Punktes von Eiweisskoerpern und ihre Anwendung auf die Serumalbumine verschiedener Tiere" in Biochemische Zeitschrift, which was a part of Dr. Mohri's Ph.D. thesis.