Metadata: Papers of Wilhelm Feldberg
Collection
- Country:
- United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
- Holding institution:
- The Royal Society
- Holding institution (official language):
- The Royal Society
- Postal address:
- 6-9 Carlton House Terrace London Greater London United Kingdom SW1Y 5AG
- Phone number:
- Telephone: 020 7451 2606
- Web address:
- https://royalsociety.org/
- Reference number:
- FEL
- Title:
- Papers of Wilhelm Feldberg
- Title (official language):
- Papers of Wilhelm Feldberg
- Creator/accumulator:
- Feldberg, Wilhelm
- Date(s):
- 1930/1980
- Language:
- English
- German
- Extent:
- 16 boxes of material including paper, photographs, and bound volumes.
- Scope and content:
- This collection of papers largely relates to Feldberg's time at the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR), but spans from the 1930s to the 1980s and includes his earlier works and some more personal content. The collection includes: correspondence; draft papers; research notes including data, graphs, summaries and results from experiments; celebratory retirement booklets with messages from colleagues; photographs of Feldberg, experiments and colleagues.Research themes:The outer and inner surface of the brain.Effects of body temperature on the brain.Effects of drugs on the brain.The central nervous system.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- Wilhelm Feldberg was born on 19th November 1900 in Hamburg, Germany. He studied medicine at Heidelberg University, Germany, graduating in 1925 and later went on to read Physiology at Cambridge.Upon graduating from Heidelberg University, Feldberg was invited to England to work, first with Professor John Langley and Sir Joseph Barcroft in Cambridge, and then with Sir Henry Dale at the National Institute for Medical Research. This is where Feldberg ultimately spent the majority of his career.In 1933 Feldberg was summarily dismissed from his position at the Physiological Institute in Berlin during the Nazi purge of Jewish scientists and was quickly invited to come and work at the National Institute for Medical Research with Henry Dale. After taking a readership to study Physiology at Cambridge, Feldberg was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1947. In 1949 Feldberg became Head of the Division of Physiology and Pharmacology at the National Institute for Medical Research. From 1966 to 1974 he was Head of the Laboratory of Neuropharmacology at the National Institute of Medical Research. Feldberg continued his research career at the National Institute for Medical Research supported by grants from the Medical Research Council. In 1990 animal rights activists gained access to his laboratory and submitted a report to the Home Office alleging that animals being tested on were inadequately anesthetized and left unattended for periods of time. This led to Feldberg's license being revoked and brought his career to an end.The NIMR was formed in 1913 and moved to Mill Hill Laboratory in 1950. Wilhelm Feldburg worked at the NIMR from 1934 until 1990.In terms of research Feldberg spent much of his career concerned with the natural chemical substances which send messages from one part of the body to another. His research included: his early work on the pharmacology of histamine and acetylcholine; his work with Henry Dale on the chemical nature of synaptic transmission in the peripheral nervous system; and, in later years, his focus on the central nervous system where he introduced a new and widely adopted experimental approach to elucidate the site and mode of action of drugs in the brain.
- Access points: persons/families:
- Feldberg, Wilhelm
- Access, restrictions:
- Access to this collection is restricted as cataloguing is ongoing. The collection is held in offsite storage and must be requested for retrieval in advance of visiting the Royal Society. For further information on access, contact library@royalsociety.org.
- Finding aids:
- Online catalogue see https://catalogues.royalsociety.org/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=FEL
- Yerusha Network member:
- AIM25