Luis F. Álvarez facts for kids

Luis Fernández Álvarez (born April 1, 1853 – died May 24, 1937) was a doctor and scientist from Spain who worked in California and Hawaii. He is famous for his important research on a disease called leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease.

Even though his family name from his father was Fernández, he is mostly known by his mother's family name, Álvarez. This is because in English-speaking countries, the last name is usually the main one, which is different from Spanish customs. His children and their families in America also used Álvarez as their last name.

Early Life

Luis Álvarez was born in a small village in Spain called Mallecina. His father, Eugenio Fernández, worked for a Spanish prince named Infante Francisco de Paula. Luis became an orphan at a young age; his mother passed away when he was three, and his father died when he was seven.

When he was 13, one of his brothers took him to Havana, Cuba. There, Luis received a good education and learned to speak English very well.

In 1878, Luis married Clementina Schutze. In 1887, he graduated from Cooper Medical College (which is now Stanford University) with a medical degree. After working as a doctor in San Francisco, he traveled to Hawaii as a physician on a ship called the SS Australia. In Honolulu, the government asked him to stay and become a government doctor. Álvarez quickly learned to speak the Hawaiian language.

Career and Research

In 1895, Álvarez left his job in Waialua to prepare for a new role. He was going to be the leader of a new hospital in Kalihi, a part of Honolulu. This hospital was special because it was for treating people with leprosy.

To get ready for this important work, Álvarez paid his own way to study for six months at Johns Hopkins University. There, he learned a lot about studying tiny living things like bacteria.

When he returned, Dr. Álvarez created a new way to find out if someone had a type of leprosy called macular leprosy. He would gently take a tiny piece of skin using small tweezers. Then, he would snip it off with scissors and grind it into a liquid in a small glass dish. After that, he would add a special color to the liquid to look for the bacteria that cause Hansen's disease. This method, or a similar one, has been used ever since.

Dr. Álvarez also tried to create a special medicine, called a serum. He made this serum by injecting the leprosy bacteria into horses. He then used this serum to treat several patients with Hansen's disease, and the results were promising.

See also

In Spanish: Luis F. Álvarez para niños