Br Heart J 1990;64:223-6 223

VIEWS FROM THE PAST Br Heart J: first published as 10.1136/hrt.64.3.223 on 1 September 1990. Downloaded from The last portrait of Willem Einthoven: newly discovered links between Sir Thomas Lewis and Alexander Samojloff

Dennis M Krikler, Arthur Hollman

The discovery of previously unknown per- sonal communication); nor is there a copy im sonal links between scientists is of particular Samojiloff's archive (Anna Samojiloff, personal interest when political and military crises communication). interfere with normal contacts, and subse- In 1989, after the death at the age of 99 of quently shows the value of their contribu- Lady Lewis-44 years after that of her hus- tions. During both world wars knowledge of band-one of us (AH) was asked to examine what was happening in occupied areas or in her collection of photographs and found a enemy countries was blocked. But there were portrait of Einthoven (fig 1). The inscription occasional gaps. Lepeschkin, working in Bad above the head reads "Seinem lieben Freunde Nauheim in Germany in 1942, was able to cite Herrn Prof A Samojiloff." (His dear friend up to date references from the British Heart ...). The clear signature at the bottom of the Journal in his textbook of electrocardiogra- picture is "W Einthoven". phyl; presumably he received the journal How well did Lewis and Samojloff know through Switzerland. Far more commonly each other? Did Lewis know that by the delays in communication meant that the work second half of 1908 the University of Kazan of individuals went unrecognised, so that in already had a Cambridge string , occupied France in 1943 Lenegre and Maurice developed diagnostic cardiac cath- eterisation without knowing of Cournand's slightly earlier studies2 in the United States. http://heart.bmj.com/ Alexander Filipovich Samojloff was a Russian pioneer of electrocardiography3 who took up the subject in 1904 after visiting Willem Einthoven to learn of his work with his newly developed string galvanometer.4 Few clues link Samojloff with other workers in elec-

trocardiography apart from his description of on September 30, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. a visit to Boston in 1929 when he addressed Paul Dudley White's postgraduate students.5 This was his third visit to Boston; he went there to see his twin sons who had emigrated from Russia during the civil war that followed the Bolshevik revolution. During the second of these visits White, in a note to his mother, described Samojloff as being ". .. a physiol- ogist much interested in , in which he is one of the world's authorities."6 Cardiovascular Division, Royal Postgraduate Medical School, London Links with Einthoven D M Krikler During his 1929 visit Samojloff gave a talk on Department of and told his audience about a Medicine, University Einthoven' College and Middlesex photograph of Einthoven that he thought to School ofMedicine, be a particularly gopd likeness; it was given to London him by his mentor during Samoiloff's last visit A Hollman to in 1927, shortly before Einthoven's Correspondence to Dr Dennis M Krikler, death. Samojloff offered to send a copy to the Cardiovascular Division, Massachusetts General Hospital on his return Royal Postgraduate Medical Figure I Photograph of Willem Einthoven, signed by School, 150 Ducane Road, to Russia but it cannot be found there or himself and inscribed to Samojloff, taken in 1926 or London W12 ONN. among White's papers (Oglesby Paul, per- 1927. 224 Krikler, Hollman

Kasan, 1928 x, 22 Dear Dr Lewis, I read your article about the late Prof. W. Einthoven in the 'Heart' and in Proc. of the R.

S. In both journals there are given the photos Br Heart J: first published as 10.1136/hrt.64.3.223 on 1 September 1990. Downloaded from of Einthoven. The portrait however does not seem to be fully true to nature and does not give characteristic traits of the face of the man whom we all so deeply estimed. Some months for his death the late Einthoven presented me with his photograph which I consider to be excellent in every point. If you are interested in having a copy of it I will be happy to send you one. With great pleasure I remember the nice time I spent in London during the Harvey Celebra- tion. With kind regards and best wishes, Your truly Prof. A. Samojloff Kasan U.S.S.R. Figure 2 Photograph of Professors I P Pavlov (extreme right) and A F Samojiloffin University formal dress infrontt ofBuckingham Palace (reproduced by permission from Krikler3). Laboratory of

Samojiloff and Lewis the sixth that the manufacturers made?7 The visit to London that Samojloffmentioned Earlier in 1908 Lewis had ordered an was for the tercentenary celebration in 1928 instrument from the Edelmann company of by the Royal College of Physicians of the Munich,8 but he took his first published elec- publication of De Motu Cordis. The celebra- trocardiogram with a string galvanometer tion started on 14 May with a reception by belonging to A D Waller in November 1908,9 King George V at Buckingham Palace in front so perhaps his Edelmann instrument was slow of which Samojloff was photographed with in arriving. It is curious that Lewis had tur- Pavlov (fig 2).3l The next two days were ned to Germany for his apparatus while his occupied by scientific sessions at University Russian contemporary bought one from College London which included the film

England. In 1925, in the third edition of The which Lewis and Henry Dale had made of http://heart.bmj.com/ Mechanism and Graphic Registration of the Harvey's experiments, and a demonstration of Heart Beat10 Lewis cited nine works by the blood vessels of the human skin by Lewis, Samojloff, one of them three times, but they R T Grant, and K E Harris. Illness prevented had probably not yet met. Samojloff, still Lewis from attending these sessions and the working in Kazan, though also teaching in College's Registrar, Dr Raymond Crawford, Moscow, managed to keep abreast of Lewis's wrote to tell him of the acclaim with which the publications. These included the obituary film was received. So Samojloff would not

notices of Einthoven that appeared in Heart have met Lewis then nor at the Guildhall on September 30, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. and in the Proceedings of the Royal Society that banquet on 16 May where they were both elicited the following letter from Samojloff to allocated seats. During the commemoration Lewis (copied uncorrected from the original): the college conferred an honorary fellowship

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Figure 4 Copy of a handwritten note from Samoiloff to Lewis, Kazan, Figure 5 Copy of a handwritten note from Lewis to Samoiloff, 15 November 1928, that accompanied the photograph of Einthoven; note 23 November 1928, acknowledging receipt of the photograph of Lewis's handwritten comment "ack personally" (Contemporary Medical Einthoven: "It is most kind ofyou to send the picture of Einthoven. Archives Centre, PP/LEW/A.1/660). I think that it is a very excellent likeness and thank you very heartily for sending it to me. With kindest regards believe me v. sincerely yrs Thomas Lewis." http://heart.bmj.com/

on the other principal Russian visitor, despite all the problems of the unsettled times I P Pavlov, and also on K F Wenck;ebach of in post-revolutionary Russia. Unfortunately, Vienna. there is no mention of this correspondence in The Physiological Society comme!morated the volume of collected works of Samojloff the occasion with a meeting at IDowning published by the USSR Academy of Science on September 30, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. College, Cambridge, on 19 May where Lewis on the centenary of his birth"3; while this and Samojloff did after all have the olpportun- contains an account of some of his inter- ity of seeing each other-both their siignatures national contacts, correspondence is limited to appear on the list of those atten( ding the several letters from Russian colleagues. There Harvey luncheon that day (fig 3). Liewis was is nothing to or from Einthoven, with whom elected a member of the Society on 23 January he had exchanged letters for more than twenty 1904, early in his career; indeed, befoxre he had years-the Einthoven archive in' Leiden qualified in medicine. contains about 70 letters from Samojloff Samojloff's first, handwritten, letter is in to Einthoven, some of them supplemented by the Contemporary Medical Archives Centre a short summary of Einthoven's reply at the Wellcome Institute for the H[istory of (H A Snellen, 1990, personal communica- Medicine (PP/LEW/A.1/659) and is anno- tion). Nor, alas, is there anything to or from tated "Ack personally" in Lewis''s hand- Lewis. writing, so there is no copy of h is reply. Just after this article was submitted, Nora Within three weeks Samojloff had re.sponded Andreevna Grigoryan, the editor of Samoj- (fig 4) and had sent the photograph (fiig 1). loff's collected works.," found several letters Lewis and Einthoven were close friiends and from Lewis among Samojloff's personal regular correspondents'2; the persoinal links papers. In January 1910 Lewis's secretary between Einthoven and Samojloff wrere even thanked Samojloff for "his kindness in send- closer and indeed of longer duration.''Though ing reprints of his interesting and valuable Samojloff only established persona]I contact papers." Lewis followed this up with a per- with Lewis towards the end of hiss life, he sonal letter in his own handwriting on 20 clearly had kept in touch with Lewis's work, April 1910, in which he wrote "Dr Lewis 226 Krikler, Hollman

be if Professor would 2 Maurice P. Jean Lenegre et les potentiels electriques would glad Samojloff efidocavitaires. In: Snellen HA, Dunning AJ, Arntzenius send him reprints of his published works on AC, eds. History and perspectives of . In addition to ack- Catheterization, angiography, surgery and concepts of the electrocardiogram." circular control. Leiden: Press, 1981: nowledgments of reprints over the years, in a 53-7. handwritten letter Lewis 1922) 3 Krikler DM. The search for Samojloff: a Russian physiol- Br Heart J: first published as 10.1136/hrt.64.3.223 on 1 September 1990. Downloaded from (15 August ogist in times ofchange. Br Med J 1987;295:1624-7. commented on a paper on atrial flutter by 4 Einthoven W. Die galvanometrische Registrirung des of which he had received a reprint, menschlichen Elektrokardiogramms, zugleich eine Samojloff, Beurtheilung der Anwendung des Capillir-Elektrometers and discussed various interpretations of the in der Physiologie. Pfluigers Arch ges Physiol 1903;99: cycles. But the most interesting letter is that 472-80. 5 Samojloff A. Reminiscences of the late Professor Willem sent in 1928, in which Lewis thanked Einthoven. Am Heart J 1930;5:685-99. for the picture of which 6 Krikler DM. Alexander Filipovich Samojloff and Paul Samojloff Einthoven, Dudley White: electrocardiography and a Russian- he also admired (fig 5). American friendship. J Am Coll Cardiol 1989;14:530-1. 7 Burnett J. The origins ofthe electrocardiograph as a clinical The letters from Samojiloff are reproduced with the permission instrument. Med Hist 1985;suppl 5:53-76. of his daughter Anna Samojloff of Moscow and through the 8 Burchell HB. A centennial note on Waller and the first courtesy of the Trustees of the Wellcome Trust, whom we also human electrocardiogram. Am J Cardiol 1987;59:979-83. thank for permission to mention the letter from Raymond 9 Lewis T, Macnalty AS. A note on the simultaneous Crawford to Lewis. We thank Professor R A Chapman, occurrence of sinus and ventricular rhythms in man. J secretary of the Physiological Society, for permission to use Physiol 1908;37:445-58. material from their archives and Mr D H Steven, honorary 10 Lewis T. The mechanism andgraphic registration of the heart archivist, for the list of-those attending the Society's Harvey beat. 3rd ed. London: Shaw and Sons, 1925. celebration, used in figure 3. Mr Geoffrey Davenport, 11 Cooke AM. A history of the Royal College of Physicians of librarian, Royal College of Physicians, kindly provided details London. Volume 3. London: Oxford University Press, of the College celebration. 1972:1050. 12 Snellen HA. Two pioneers of electrocardiography. The cor- respondence between Einthoven and Lewisfrom 1908-1926. 1 Lepeschkin E. Das Elektrokardiogramm. Ein Handbuch fur Rotterdam: Ponker Academic Publications, 1983. Theorie und Praxis. Dresden and Leipzig: Verlag von 13 Grigoryan NA. A F Samojloff. Selected works [in Russian]. Theodor Steinkopff, 1942. Moscow: "Nauka", 1967. http://heart.bmj.com/ on September 30, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright.