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Olga Povitzky
A white woman wearing glasses and a military-style uniform with cap
Olga Povitzky, in France during World War I
BornDecember 24, 1877
Lithuania, Russia Empire
DiedMay 21, 1948
Pleasant Valley, New York, US
Other namesOlga Povitsky, Olga Povitski
Occupation(s)Physician, bacteriologist, medical researcher

Olga Raissa Povitzky (December 24, 1877 – May 21, 1948), also seen as Olga Povitsky, was a Russian-born American physician and bacteriologist with the New York Health Department; she also worked at a field hospital in France during World War I.

Early life and education

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Olga Povitzky was born in Lithuania, then part of the Russian Empire. She moved to the United States in 1893[1] to live with her brother Charles, who was a druggist in Philadelphia.[2] Her sister Anna Pavitt Boudin became a prominent dentist in New York.[3] Her niece, Eleanor Osborne-Hill, was a lawyer and sculptor.[4]

Povitzky graduated from the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1901; she and her fellow graduate, Dora Chatterjee, were highlighted in news reports of the graduation.[5][6] In 1905, she completed a doctorate in public health at New York University.[7]

Career

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Povitzky was a bacteriologist for the New York Health Department for almost forty years, beginning in 1910.[8][9] In 1914, she joined Anna Wessels Williams for a study of trachoma in New York City schoolchildren.[10] During World War I, she went to France to serve in a women-run field hospital, organized as the Women's Medical Unit for Foreign Service and sponsored by the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA).[11][12] While in France, she received specialized training at the Pasteur Institute, in the treatment of gas gangrene; she also worked at a laboratory in Le Mans.[7]

Back in New York, Povitzky worked on diphtheria antitoxin production. In 1923, she collaborated with Josephine Neal in developing a serum to cure meningitis, in a health department laboratory at Willard Parker Hospital.[13] She published her research in academic journals, including Science,[14] Archives of Internal Medicine,[15] The Journal of Infectious Diseases,[16] Journal of Immunology,[17][18] Experimental Biology and Medicine,[19] and American Journal of Public Health.[20] She also lectured on public health topics.[7]

Povitzky designed the Povitzky Bottle, a flat-sided Pyrex glass vessel used for culturing poliovirus.[7][21]

Publications

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  • "Agglutination in Pertussis" (1916, with Edward Worth)[15]
  • "The Complement Fixation Reactions of the Bordet-Gengou Bacillus" (1916, with Miriam P. Olmstead)[22]
  • "Prompt Macroscopic Agglutination in the Diagnosis of Glanders" (1918)[17]
  • "Growth of B. Influenzae without the Presence of Hemoglobin" (1921, with Anna W. Williams)[23]
  • "Improved Methods for the Isolation and Later Cultivation of B. Pertussis" (1923)[16]
  • "Diphtheria toxin-antitoxin titration by Ramon method for practical application" (1924, with Edwin J. Banzhaf)[19]
  • "Diphtheria Toxoid. Preparation and Dosage" (1931, with Minnie Eisner and Erla Jackson)[18]
  • "Predominant Strain of B. influenzae in Influenzal Meningitis" (1933)[14]
  • "Effectiveness of Standard Diphtheria Antitoxin Against all Types of Diphtheria Infection" (1933, with Minnie Eisner and Erla Jackson)[24]
  • "The Effect of Temperature on the Antigenic Value of Diphtheria Toxoid" (1935, with Minnie Eisner)[25]
  • "Standardization and Application of Different Preparations of Diphtheria Toxoid" (1936)[20]

Personal life

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Povitzky became a United States citizen in 1904.[7] She died in 1948, in Moores Mill, Pleasant Valley, New York, aged 71 years.[26]

References

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  1. ^ Birth date and date of arrival in United States are both found on Povitzky's Petition for Naturalization, granted in 1904; via Fold3
  2. ^ "Port Arthur Man Talks of Far East". Republican and Herald. 1904-04-28. p. 2. Retrieved 2021-12-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Dr. Anna P. Boudin, Dentist, Headed ORT". The New York Times. 1959-10-26. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-12-23.
  4. ^ "Mrs. Osborne-Hill, Lawyer and Artist". The New York Times. 1966-10-17. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-12-23.
  5. ^ "Fair Graduates in Medicine. Hindoo Princess and Russian Belle Will Get Diplomas". The Owensboro Messenger. 1901-05-31. p. 4. Retrieved 2021-12-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Graduates from Medical College". The Weekly Republican. 1901-07-11. p. 4. Retrieved 2021-12-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ a b c d e Emrich, John, and Charles Richter (April 2020). "Hidden Figures of AAI: Five Women Pioneers in Immunology" The American Association of Immunologists.
  8. ^ "Department of Health" The City Record (Supplement): 482.
  9. ^ "Board of Health" (PDF). The City Record. June 20, 1927. p. 6515.
  10. ^ Williams, Anna Wessels; Williams, A Group of Workers Under The Direction of Anna Wessels; Wootton, H. W.; von Sholly, Anna L.; Gurley, Caroline R.; Crane, Percy; Lipsky, Ella; Schmidling, Mary; Herzig, Theodora; Kurtz, Alice; Povitsky, Olga (1914). "A Study of Trachoma and Allied Conditions in the Public School Children of New York City". The Journal of Infectious Diseases. 14 (2): 261–337. doi:10.1093/infdis/14.2.261. ISSN 0022-1899. JSTOR 30073381.
  11. ^ "Woman's Hospital Unit for France; Chief Work of the Eighty Members Will be Done Among Population in Devastated Districts". The New York Times. 1917-10-07. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-12-23.
  12. ^ Beck, Melinda (4 March 2021). "Why Suffragists Helped Send Women Doctors to WWI's Front Lines". HISTORY. Retrieved 2021-12-23.
  13. ^ "Flu Meningitis Cure Discovered by Women". The Herald Democrat. March 31, 1923. p. 1. Retrieved December 23, 2021 – via Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection.
  14. ^ a b Povitzky, Olga R. (1933-12-08). "Predominant Strain of B. influenzae in Influenzal Meningitis". Science. 78 (2032): 537–538. doi:10.1126/science.78.2032.537.a. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 17836768. S2CID 239875584.
  15. ^ a b Povitzky, Olga R; Worth, Edward (1916-02-01). "Agglutination in Pertussis: Its Characteristics and its Comparative Value in Clinical Diagnosis, and in Determination of Genus and Species". Archives of Internal Medicine. XVII (2): 279. doi:10.1001/archinte.1916.00080080101007. ISSN 0730-188X.
  16. ^ a b Povitzky, Olga R. (1923-01-01). "Improved Methods for Later Cultivation the Isolation and of B. Pertussis". The Journal of Infectious Diseases. 32 (1): 8–21. doi:10.1093/infdis/32.1.8. ISSN 0022-1899.
  17. ^ a b Povitzky, Olga R. (1918-11-01). "Prompt Macroscopic Agglutination in the Diagnosis of Glanders". The Journal of Immunology. 3 (6): 463–479. doi:10.4049/jimmunol.3.6.463. ISSN 0022-1767.
  18. ^ a b Povitzky, Olga R.; Jackson, Erla; Eisner, Minnie (1931-03-01). "Diphtheria Toxoid. Preparation and Dosage". The Journal of Immunology. 20 (3): 247–253. doi:10.4049/jimmunol.20.3.247. ISSN 0022-1767. S2CID 70474188.
  19. ^ a b Povitzky, Olga R.; Banzhaf, Edwin J. (1924-10-01). "Diphtheria toxin-antitoxin titration by Ramon method for practical application". Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine. 22 (1): 11–13. doi:10.3181/00379727-22-7. ISSN 0037-9727. S2CID 102201643.
  20. ^ a b Povitzky, Olga R. (1936-07-01). "Standardization and Application of Different Preparations of Diphtheria Toxoid". American Journal of Public Health and the Nation's Health. 26 (7): 731–732. doi:10.2105/AJPH.26.7.731. ISSN 0002-9572. PMC 1562712. PMID 18014467.
  21. ^ Rutty, Christopher J. "TWK Povitsky Bottle 1950s". Health, Art, and Humanities Program, University of Toronto. Retrieved 2021-12-23.
  22. ^ Olmstead, Miriam P.; Povitzky, Olga R. (January 1916). "The Complement Fixation Reactions of the Bordet-Gengou Bacillus". The Journal of Medical Research. 33 (3): 379–392. ISSN 0097-3599. PMC 2083840. PMID 19972274.
  23. ^ Williams, Anna W.; Povitzky, Olga R. (1921). "Growth of B. Influenzae without the Presence of Hemoglobin". The Journal of Medical Research. 42 (4): 405–417. ISSN 0097-3599. PMC 2107696. PMID 19972550.
  24. ^ Povitzky, Olga R.; Eisner, Minnie; Jackson, Erla (1933-03-01). "Effectiveness of Standard Diphtheria Antitoxin* Against all Types of Diphtheria Infection". The Journal of Infectious Diseases. 52 (2): 246–252. doi:10.1093/infdis/52.2.246. ISSN 0022-1899.
  25. ^ Povitzky, Olga R.; Eisner, Minnie (1935-03-01). "The Effect of Temperature on the Antigenic Value of Diphtheria Toxoid". The Journal of Immunology. 28 (3): 215–223. doi:10.4049/jimmunol.28.3.215. ISSN 0022-1767.
  26. ^ "Dr. Olga Povitzky, 71, Bacteriologist, Dies". The New York Times. 1948-05-23. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-12-23.
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