Birth
Willem Einthoven was born in Semarang on Java in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), the son of Louise Marie Mathilde Caroline (de Vogel) and Jacob Einthoven.
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History of Willem Einthoven
Monday May 21, 1860 to Thursday Sep 29, 1927
Indonesia and Netherlands
Willem Einthoven (21 May 1860 – 29 September 1927) was a Dutch physician and physiologist. He invented the first practical electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) in 1895 and received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1924 for it ("for the discovery of the mechanism of the electrocardiogram").
Returned to the Netherlands
His father, a doctor, died when Willem was a child. His mother returned to the Netherlands with her children in 1870 and settled in Utrecht. His father was of Jewish and Dutch descent, and his mother's ancestry was Dutch and Swiss.
Einthoven received a medical degree
In 1885, Einthoven received a medical degree from the University of Utrecht.
Einthoven became a professor
Einthoven became a professor at the University of Leiden in 1886.
Einthoven completed a series of prototypes of a string galvanometer
Before Einthoven's time, it was known that the beating of the heart produced electrical currents, but the instruments of the time could not accurately measure this phenomenon without placing electrodes directly on the heart. Beginning in 1901, Einthoven completed a series of prototypes of a string galvanometer. This device used a very thin filament of conductive wire passing between very strong electromagnets. When a current passed through the filament, the magnetic field created by the current would cause the string to move. A light shining on the string would cast a shadow on a moving roll of photographic paper, thus forming a continuous curve showing the movement of the string. The original machine required water cooling for the powerful electromagnets, required five people to operate it and weighed some 270 kilograms. This device increased the sensitivity of the standard galvanometer so that the electrical activity of the heart could be measured despite the insulation of flesh and bones.
Willem became a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
In 1902, Willem became a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Einthoven was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
In 1924, Einthoven was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for inventing the first practical system of electrocardiography used in medical diagnosis.
Death
Einthoven died in Leiden in the Netherlands and is buried in the graveyard of the Reformed Church at 6 Haarlemmerstraatweg in Oegstgeest. It is encouraged to visit his grave and pay respects.
Einthoven's 159th birthday
On 21 May 2019, on Einthoven's 159th birthday, he was honored with a Google Doodle.