Mathilde Krim

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Mathilde Krim
AIDS research
MovementIrgun
Spouses
David Danon
​
​
(m. 1948, divorced)​
​
​
(m. 1958; died 1994)​
Children1
honoris causa, Presidential Medal of Freedom, Jefferson Awards
Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged

Mathilde Krim (

AIDS
Research.

Biography

Mathilde Galland was born in

Como, Italy to a Swiss Protestant father and Italian Roman Catholic mother.[3] She received her PhD in Biology from the University of Geneva, Switzerland, in 1953. In 1948, she married David Danon, an Israeli man she met at University of Geneva School of Medicine.[4] She converted to Judaism before marriage.[1]
They had a daughter and shortly thereafter relocated to Israel.

While living in Switzerland, she smuggled weapons and explosives from former

donations for Israel.[5]

Medical research career

From 1953 to 1959, she pursued research in

prenatal determination of sex
.

After her divorce, she moved to

gay rights movement
, and in numerous other civil liberties and human rights movements.

The Krims hosting John F. Kennedy (center) in 1962

In 1962, Krim became a research scientist at the

Mailman School of Public Health
.

Soon after the first cases of what would later be called AIDS were reported in 1981, Krim recognized that this new disease raised grave scientific and medical questions and that it might have important socio-political consequences. She dedicated herself to increasing the public's awareness of AIDS and to a better understanding of its cause, its modes of transmission, and its epidemiologic pattern.[6][7]

Contributing to the fight against AIDS, she established AIDS Medical Foundation in 1983. Later the Foundation merged with a similar organization and called the American Foundation for AIDS Research (AmFAR).

AIDS research
. She continued working on behalf of AIDS awareness through AmfAR.

Awards and recognition

Krim was awarded 16 doctorates

honoris causa and has received numerous other honors and distinctions. In August 2000, President Bill Clinton awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States, in recognition of her "extraordinary compassion and commitment".[6]

In 2003, Krim received the Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards.[9]

Death

Krim died at home in Kings Point, New York on January 15, 2018, aged 91.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b Klemesrud, Judy (November 3, 1984). "Dr. Mathilde Krim: Focusing Attention On AIDS Research". New York Times. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
  2. ^ a b McFadden, Robert D. (January 16, 2018). "Mathilde Krim, Mobilizing Force in an AIDS Crusade, Dies at 91". New York Times. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
  3. ^ "Mathilde Krim". Encyclopædia Britannica. July 5, 2023.
  4. ^ JTA (January 16, 2018). "Mathilde Krim, AIDS research pioneer who fought stigma, dies at 91". The Times of Israel.
  5. ^ Carmody, Deirdre (January 30, 1990). "Painful Political Lesson for AIDS Crusader". The New York Times. Retrieved April 17, 2008.
  6. ^ a b "HIV/AIDS Research". The Foundation for AIDS Research. Archived from the original on June 18, 2008. Retrieved April 7, 2007.
  7. PMID 29943620
    .
  8. ^ "10 Women Scientists Who Should Be More Famous". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  9. ^ "National". Jefferson Awards. Archived from the original on November 24, 2010. Retrieved August 5, 2013.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mathilde Krim.
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