THE LATE PETER NANSEN
Peter commenced his academic life as a lecturer and researcher at the Department of
Internal Medicine, Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University (RVAU), Copenhagen
In 1965, he held various research fellowships at this Department until being appointed
as Associate Professor in the Department of Hygiene and Microbiology in 1977. In
1983, Peter Nansen was appointed Professor of Veterinary Parasitology at the Swedish
University of Agricultural Sciences and Head of the Parasitology Department,
National Veterinary Institute in Uppsala, Sweden. His research interests in veterinary
parasitology, particularly wildlife and fish parasitology, were soon part of mainstream
parasitological research in Scandinavia.
In 1984 he returned home to Denmark as Professor of Veterinary Parasitology in the
Department of Hygiene and Microbiology at RVAU. At this time there was only one
academic and one technical permanent position in the parasitology department. His
enthusiasm for all aspects of parasitology and his remarkable ability to seek and
obtain funding from many sources, both within Denmark and The European Union, set
the stage for the rapid development of this department to a pre-eminent veterinary
parasitology research and teaching facility. Foundation studies centred on the
epidemiology, population dynamics, immunology and pathology of helminth parasites
of cattle, and then widened into paleoparasitology, zoonoses, biological control of
parasitism, pig parasites and schistosomosis.
Peter had embarked upon an ambitious and highly successful quest to obtain funding
from diverse sources for the purpose of supporting scholarships, salaries and major
research programs. One of his early, major successful initiatives was in developing the
Nordic Pig Project for which he co-ordinated the research and teaching in porcine
helminths in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland. He also obtained
substantial funding from the Danish International Aid Organisation, DANIDA, to
promote the post-graduate training in veterinary parasitology of students from both
Southern and Eastern Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe), with this
expanding to include students from Indonesia and South America. The pinnacle was a
major grant from the Danish National Research Foundation in 1993 to establish the
Danish Centre for Experimental Parasitology (DCEP), of which he was the Director. At
the end of the first funding term in 1998 DCEP was reviewed by an international
committee as outstanding and financial support was granted for a second found until
2003. This enabled Peter to develop the DCEP into a centre of international excellence.
Peter was the principal supervisor of over 30 PhD students, and numerous honours
and Masters students who also benefited from his tutelage. Many of his students have
continued on to be well recognised parasitologists, both within and outside Denmark.
Perhaps one of Peter's greatest professional achievements was his initiation of one of
the first collaborative university agreements between Western countries and former
Soviet states. He was responsible for conducting the first training course in Soviet
Estonia the logistics of which (including delicate negotiation with the KGB) were
considerable. He actively campaigned to obtain funding for his professional
contemporaries in these countries to be exposed to Western parasitological science
and expertise by attending scientific meetings in the Nordic countries. The agreement
further provided the opportunity for graduate students from the Baltic countries to
undertake Masters and PhD courses at the DCEP. He has fostered the expansion of
these activities to now include others from Eastern Europe. In recognition for his
efforts, PETER was appointed Doctor honoris causaat the Estonian University of
Agriculture in 1993 and elected Foreign Member of the Lithuanian Academy of Science
in 1994.
His energy and vision was also responsible for the establishment of strong interdisciplinary links with many research and teaching establishments worldwide. He
established a programme where international scientists, with expertise in aspects of
DCEP research priorities, were invited to Denmark for varying periods as visiting
professors. We three were among those fortunate to be so invited and the generosity,
science and unique collaboration, together with the characteristic Danish warm
hospitality and good humour are highlights in our own careers. His promotion of
parasitology within Scandinavia is not without accolade. Peter was the Co-founder and
President of the Danish Society of Parasitology (1972-1973), President of the Nordic
Society for Parasitology (1985-1989), Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Science (19821983), Chairman of the Danish Centre for Parasitic Zoonoses (1991- 1994), Member of
the board of The Danish Bilharziasis Laboratory since 1985 and Member of the
Committee for Scientific Publications and Research Co-ordination of the
Scandinavian Society for Parasitology since 1989. He was elected Honorary Member
of the Scandinavian Society for Parasitology in 1997. Peter was a very active in the
World Association for the Advancement of Veterinary Parasitology (WAAVP) serving
on the executive committee for 8 years and was vice-president of the Association for
the last 2 years. Many of us will long remember the WAAVP scientific conference held
in Copenhagen in August 1999 where Peter was Chairman of both the Scientific and
Local Organising Committees. This conference was an outstanding success, with more
than 700 delegates attending from all over the world. He has held many demanding
and prestigious national and international positions associated with general scientific
issues, and specifically, with veterinary and public health matters. He travelled widely,
being an invited speaker at numerous scientific conferences including that of the
Australian Society for Parasitology at La Trobe University in 1998.
Peter's enormous scientific contribution was acknowledged in 1995 when he received
a Knighthood from H.M. Queen Margrethe II in Denmark. The WAAVP also
bestowed upon him the WAAVP/Pfizer Award for Excellence in Teaching in Veterinary
Parasitology in 1997. Peter Nansen was an inspiration and a leader amongst
leaders, while always retaining his special human qualities. He was a nurturer, a
concordant, a healer, a humorist, an optimist and a friend. He was sincere and
generous in the extreme, and never uttered a `bad word' about anybody. Indeed, he
was a `gentle man' as well as a true gentleman. He and his lovely wife, Inger, were fine
entertainers and we recall many happy and amusing dinners at their home. Peter
loved classical music, art, Piet Hein writings, fine cigars, VSOP Cognac and smelly ol'
Danish cheese (`Gammal Ost'). He would have been a wonderful grandfather to his
newborn grandchild, born only 3 days before his tragic passing. Tragically, on
Tuesday 26th October 1999, the parasitology community lost one of its most respected
and loved members. Professor Peter Nansen, Director of the Danish Centre for
Experimental Parasitology (DCEP), died on this day of a cerebral haemorrhage. He was
61 years of age.
Source: Int J Parasitol (2001) 31, 869-8790.