IN-PERSON & ZOOM MEETING : Leo Vroman: Scientist and Poet
Leo Vroman (1915-2014) was a remarkable man whose career straddled two seemingly unrelated endeavors: science and the arts.
In the United States he was well-known as a hematologist for studying the complex subject of blood/foreign surface interactions as used for kidney dialysis, artificial heart valves, or extracorporeal circulation. In the Netherlands, he was a much-beloved poet who published 65 books and more than 3,000 poems in his lifetime; he was also an imaginative artist/illustrator. Many of those who knew of Leo in both countries were unaware of his extraordinary life and parallel accomplishments in both fields.
After receiving a degree in biology in Utrecht in 1938, he became engaged to Tineke Sanders, and their life together was a love story of devotion for the 66 years of their marriage. The Nazi invasion of Holland in 1940 forced Leo to flee his country without Tineke, eventually arriving in the United States after the war ended. But between those two events, he traveled to Jakarta, was conscripted into the Dutch-Indonesian army, and became a prisoner of war for more than three years.
His first published book of poetry was written while he was a POW. In 1947, Leo and Tineke were reunited and married; they had two daughters, Geraldine, and Peggy. In 1958, Leo completed requirements to obtain a PhD. A blood protein phenomenon known as the Vroman Effect was later named after him. He worked at the Museum of Natural History, Mt. Sinai Hospital, the Brooklyn VA Hospital, and Columbia University.
Leo was always a quiet but memorable speaker, and he sometimes illustrated his scientific articles with drawings. In 2004, two scientist colleagues and I interviewed him for the National Library of Medicine, and Tineke, who rarely left Leo’s side, provided insight into his parallel careers as a scientist and poet. When Leo died, it became front page news in the Netherlands; a Dutch postage stamp was issued in his honor. For decades and to the present he was considered that country’s most famous and admired poet. I had other visits with Leo and Tineke and will share some anecdotes to reveal the character of this most extraordinary man, who has been described as “a scientist without category.”
About Mark Kurusz:
Mark Kurusz is the immediate Past-President of the Rotary Club of West Austin, for the years 2020-2021. He is a retired clinical perfusionist (operates heart-lung machine) who continues to do consulting, primarily with Windmill Cardiovascular Systems, Inc., a start-up company that is developing a blood pump for cardiac assist. He has been an author and editor for professional journals since the mid-1970s. He and his wife, Helen, are from New Jersey where they married in 1971 and are the proud parents of three daughters who have brought forth eight grandchildren. They moved to Austin, TX, in 2006 after spending nearly 30 years at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, TX.