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Medical Expeditions and Scramble for Africa: Robert Koch in Africa 1896-1907 Facil Tesfaye ... PDF

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Medical Expeditions and Scramble for Africa: Robert Koch in Africa 1896-1907 Facil Tesfaye Department of History and Classical Studies, McGill University, Montreal September 2013 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy “©” Facil Tesfaye 2013 Table of Content Abstract ........................................................................................................................................................... iv(cid:1) Aknowledgments ............................................................................................................................................. v(cid:1) List of illustrations .......................................................................................................................................... vi(cid:1) List of Abbreviations ..................................................................................................................................... vii(cid:1) Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................... 1(cid:1) Chapter I. Becoming a Mobile Colonial Actor ................................................................................................ 7(cid:1) Chapter II. First Expedition to Southern Africa 1896-1897: Intervention during the “Great Continental Cattle Plague” ................................................................................................................................................ 37(cid:1) Chapter III. Second Expedition to Southern Africa 1902: The Controversial Expedition ............................ 84(cid:1) Chapter IV. First German East Africa Expedition 1897-1898: The Beginnings of the “Medicalization” of the New Colony ........................................................................................................................................... 133(cid:1) Chapter V. German East Africa Expeditions 1905 - 1907: Pursuing “Medicalization” through Colonial Public Health Care Measures ....................................................................................................................... 183(cid:1) Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 239(cid:1) Annex ........................................................................................................................................................... 243(cid:1) Bibliography ................................................................................................................................................ 260(cid:1) ii For Endale: Yihew yene lij! iii Abstract The history of colonial medical expeditions and those involved in them is usually left to medical professionals who use their expertise to decrypt the technical and scientific aspects of the activities conducted on the ground. In addition, such works do not necessarily pay attention to the general historical context in which the expeditions occurred. This study is a historical examination of five medical expeditions that Robert Koch conducted in the African continent between 1896 and 1907. It places the activities of the German scientist in the general historical context of the late nineteenth century Africa, which was described by scholars as a “time of trouble and transformation”. The extreme environmental conditions of African continent at the time, and the Scramble for Africa that was unfolding on the ground will thus provide the framework of analysis proposed by this study. Résumé L'histoire des expéditions médicales coloniales et de ceux qui y ont été impliqués est généralement laissée aux professionnels de la santé qui utilisent leur savoir-faire pour décrypter les aspects techniques et scientifiques des activités menées sur le terrain. En outre, ces travaux ne paient pas nécessairement beaucoup d'attention au contexte historique général dans lequel les expéditions ont eu lieu. Cette thèse est un examen historique de cinq expéditions médicales que Robert Koch a mené sur le continent africain entre 1896 et 1907. Cette étude place les activités du scientifique allemand dans le contexte historique général africain de la fin du XIXe siècle, qui a été décrit par certains spécialistes comme un «temps de détresse et de transformation". La situation environnementale extrême du continent Africain de l'époque, ainsi que la ruée vers l'Afrique qui se déroulait au même moment serviront de cadre de l’analyse proposée par cette étude. iv Aknowledgments I would like to express my deepest appreciation and gratitude to: • My supervisors, Professor Myron Echenberg and Professor Gwyn Campbell, for all their support, guidance and patience. • The Department of History and Classical Studies and the Indian Ocean World Centre for the opportunity I was given to evolve in a motivating, and intellectually stimulating research environment. Financial support for this study was provided by: • The FQRSC doctoral scholarship (2010-2013) • The Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (2010-2011) • The Indian Ocean World Centre, McGill University • Department of History and Classical Studies, McGill University Additional thank you to: • The staff of the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin who gave me full access to the archive of the Institute during my research in 2010-2011 • My family and friends: For the support and encouragements you have given me all along; and most importantly, for being with me during the ups and downs that accompanied this journey. This dissertation would not have been possible without you! • I would particularly like to thank Eyob Girma (Harstad, Norway), Alexander Deguise, Vilelmini Tsagkaraki, Sarah Ghabrial (McGill, Montreal) and Merertu Mogga (Ottawa) who read and commented earlier versions of my chapters. v List of illustrations TABLE 1. SUMMER 2010 PRESS COVERAGE OF ROBERT KOCH’S DEATH ANNIVERSARY IN GERMAN SPEAKING NEWSPAPERS ................................................................................................................. 11(cid:1) MODEL OF AN INSTRUMENT OF MICROPHOTOGRAPHY MADE BY THE FIRM LAUTENSCHLÄGER FOR ROBERT KOCH ................................................................................................................................ 19(cid:1) MAP 1. ROBERT KOCH’S AFRICA EXPEDITIONS 1883-1907 ........................................................... 22(cid:1) TABLE 2. SUMMARY OF ROBERT KOCH’S AFRICA EXPEDITIONS ................................................... 25(cid:1) MAP 2. THE SPREAD OF RINDERPEST IN AFRICA BETWEEN 1888 AND1900 ................................... 41(cid:1) A GROUP PICTURE WITH KOCH AND HIS WIFE WITH HUTCHEON, HENNING, O’DONNOGUE, PHILIPPS AND KOHLSTOCK (A.O.) TAKEN IN KIMBERLEY IN 1896 ................................................. 58(cid:1) VICTORIA COMPOUND PHOTOGRAPHED BY ROBERT KOCH IN 1896 .............................................. 65(cid:1) THE AUTOPSY AREA AND THE MASS GRAVE OF VICTORIA COMPOUND ......................................... 68(cid:1) ‘DR KOCH EXTRACTING BILE’ AT VICTORIA COMPOUND .............................................................. 76(cid:1) VIEW FROM THE VERANDA OF ROBERT KOCH’S ROOM IN THE GRAND HOTEL OF BULAWAYO .... 99(cid:1) MAP 3. “GERMAN AFRICA” IN THE LATE 19TH CENTURY ............................................................. 131(cid:1) MAP 4. DETAILED MAP OF GERMAN EAST AFRICA ...................................................................... 140(cid:1) MAP 5. “HEALTH CONDITIONS FOR EUROPEANS” IN GERMAN EAST AFRICA ............................. 171(cid:1) TABLE 3. EXAMPLES OF NEWSPAPER ARTICLES THAT REPORTED ABOUT ROBERT KOCH’S SLEEPING SICKNESS EXPEDITION ................................................................................................. 188(cid:1) MAP SHOWING THE VARIOUS CARAVAN ROUTES OF GEA ........................................................... 194(cid:1) CHROMATIN (COMBINATION OF DNA AND PROTEIN) OF THE BACTERIA CAUSING RELAPSING FEVER ........................................................................................................................................... 195(cid:1) SPIRILLUM (CELL BODY) OF RELAPSING FEVER CAUSING BACTERIA FOUND IN TICK EGGS ......... 196(cid:1) A PICTURE OF ORNITHODORUS MOUBATA MURRAY TAKEN BY KOCH ....................................... 197(cid:1) PICTURES SHOWING THE VARIOUS DEVELOPMENT CYCLES OF TEXAS FEVER PARASITES IN TICKS ...................................................................................................................................................... 200(cid:1) PICTURE OF EAST COAST FEVER PARASITES FOUND BY KOCH IN RHIPICEPHALUS AUSTRALIS ... 201(cid:1) TRYPANOSOMES OBSERVED BY KOCH (FIG 15, 16 & 17) ............................................................ 204(cid:1) TRYPANOSOMES OBSERVED BY KOCH (FIG 18-19) ...................................................................... 205(cid:1) TRYPANOSOMES OBSERVED BY KOCH (FIG 20, 21, 22, 23) .......................................................... 205(cid:1) MAP 6. SLEEPING SICKNESS IN GERMAN EAST AFRICA ............................................................... 207(cid:1) MEMBERS OF THE 1906 SLEEPING SICKNESS EXPEDITION IN GEA .............................................. 217(cid:1) MAP 7. THE ROUTE TAKEN BY THE MEMBERS OF THE SLEEPING SICKNESS EXPEDITION ............ 218(cid:1) A PICTURE OF MUANZA TAKEN BY KOCH .................................................................................... 219(cid:1) MAP SHOWING THE DISTRIBUTION OF SLEEPING SICKNESS AND GLOSSINA PALPALIS ON THE SHORES OF LAKE VICTORIA .......................................................................................................... 223(cid:1) UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COLONIAL AFFAIRS BERNHARD DERNBURG IN GEA (AUGUST-OCTOBER 1907) ................................................................................................... 237(cid:1) vi List of Abbreviations BSAC British South African Company ECF East Coast fever EMD Evangelischen Missionsgesellschaft für Deutsch-Ostafrika FAO Food and Agriculture Organization GEA German East Africa Gl Glossina Rf Relapsing fever RKI Robert Koch Institute RKM Robert Koch Museum Tf Texas fever vii Introduction The many medical expeditions that took place in Africa prior to or during the Scramble for Africa are generally not given their proper place in historical studies. They are either considered as marginal manifestations organized by medical doctors, or as part of larger scientific explorations conducted by pioneers like the now unavoidable David Livingstone (1813-1873) and Henry Morton Stanley (1841-1904). Scientists in such expeditions are therefore known for their participation in the exploration of an “unknown continent,” rather than for their scientific work.1 Perusal of the existing studies that address the history of medical expeditions and those involved in them reveals that this area of research is usually the territory of medical professionals or microbiologists. These scholars use their specialized knowledge to decrypt the technical and scientific aspects of the activities conducted on the ground. However, as a result, they tend to produce biographic (or hagiographic) works that do not necessarily attend to the general historical context in which the expeditions occurred.2 The current study is about a German scientist—Robert Koch (1847- 1910)—who conducted a series of expeditions between 1896 and 1907. He began his career as a small-town medical officer during the Franco-German War (1870- 1871), but by the late 1880s, he had become a prestigious German scientist and a 1 See for instance Lawrence Dritsas, Zambesi David Livingstone and expeditionary science in Africa, (London ; New York: I.B. Tauris ; Palgrave Macmillan, 2010). 2 See for instance Thomas D. Brock, Robert Koch: A Life in Medicine and Bacteriology, (Madison, WI Berlin ; New York: Science Tech Publishers ; Springer-Verlag, 1988). 1 darling of Emperor Wilhelm II. Summoned by various colonial powers to conduct health-related investigations in Africa, he was involved in the fight against major diseases, such as cholera, bubonic plague, and Rinderpest, as well as in the formulation of colonial health policies. Among his colleagues, Koch was known for his difficult character and “Faustian weaknesses.”3 Nevertheless, his increasing prominence as a scientist placed him at the center of international solicitations. When he won the Nobel Prize in 1905, Koch became a popular hero, and today, more than a century after his death, he still enjoys “superstar” status in Germany and within the international scientific community.4 Purpose and objective of the study Previous studies on Koch have been limited primarily to narrow accounts of his scientific achievements in the laboratory. The few studies that cover his Africa expeditions tend to be panegyric, extolling the man and uncritically overrating his achievements.5 Evidently, Koch’s larger-than-life reputation has rendered it difficult for historians to undertake critical evaluations of his work in Africa.6 This study breaks with this tradition. It offers a critical evaluation of Koch’s expeditions in Africa by situating them within the framework of the 3 Claude E. Dolman (1906-1994), a Canadian microbiologist wrote that Koch’s “faustian weaknesses and shortcomings do not diminish the good deeds which he has bequeathed to mankind and will continue to persist.” http://www.personenlexikon.net/d/robert-koch/robert- koch.htm (Accessed February 28, 2012) 4 Magnus Heier, "Robert Koch Superstar," Der Tagesspiegel, Thursday 27 May 2010b. 5 See for instance Bernhard Möllers, Robert Koch, Persönlichkeit und Lebenswerk, 1843-1910, (Hannover,: Schmorl & Von Seefeld, 1950). Brock, Robert Koch. Paul F. Cranefield, Science and Empire : East Coast Fever in Rhodesia and Transvaal, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991). 6 See for instance Wolfgang Ulrich Wachs, "Die Pestexpedition unter Leitung von Robert Koch nach Indien und Deutsch-Ostafrika 1897" (PhD, Humboldt Universitaet zu Berlin, 2006). Hirokuyi Isobe, Medizin und Kolonialgesellschaft. Die Bekaempfung der Schlafkrankheit in den deutschen "Schutzgebieten" vor dem Ersten Weltkrieg, (Muenster: Lit Verlag, 2009). 2 environmental crisis in the continent at that time. Moreover, they are viewed in light of European colonial expansion, which provoked dramatic changes in the economic, political, and social relationships between colonial powers and European settlers, on the one hand, and between colonial powers and indigenous populations, on the other.7 Such an approach opens up new possibilities for evaluating the impact of Koch’s work in Africa. For instance, this study shows the crucial role of medical professionals in the early stages of the colonial process. In fact, their expert recommendations were often the backbones of public health measures and policies adopted by colonial governments. This study also demonstrates how such intrusive measures helped undermine local African social, economic, political, and religious belief systems, thereby promoting white economic and political dominance. Alongside his work as a prestigious scientist, Koch was also an important colonial actor who was particularly crucial in the formative years of the colonization of German East Africa (GEA). Sources This study is based on research into a series of primary sources related to Koch’s expeditions in colonial Africa. These are comprised of reports written by Koch or his assistants at the time, official government documents, and private correspondence. These are located chiefly in two German archives in Berlin: the Geheimes Staatsarchiv and the Robert Koch Institut. It also draws upon publications by scientific contemporaries of Robert Koch and biographical works 7 Giblin called this period a “time of trouble and transformation”. James Giblin, "Trypanosomiasis Control in African History: An Evaded Issue?," The Journal of African History 31, no. 1 (1990b): 74. 3

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First Expedition to Southern Africa 1896-1897: Intervention during the “Great Continental . Koch a mené sur le continent africain entre 1896 et 1907.
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