The fourteen editors of the Journal of the South African Veterinary Association : 1927 – 2000

The initial motivation for having an article on the editors of the journal published in the year 2000 was to commemorate the 70 years of the existence of the Journal of the South African Veterinary Association . However, in conducting the research required to write the article it was established that the journal dates from 1927. Consequently the journal was about 73 rather than 70 years old at the end of 1999. During this period it has been faithfully served by 14 editors. This article contains a relatively brief description of the life histories, in relation to their terms of office as editors, of these editors, of whom 4 are still alive and actively pursuing their respective careers


W
hen the clock heralded the dawn of the year 2000, the Journal of the South African Veterinary Association had been in existence for almost 73 years.How ever, the volume number for 1999 is only 70.How does one explain this interesting phenomenon and, more importantly, who were the dedicated editors who ensured that the journal remained viable and respected in the veterinary and related disciplines over all these years?
The first number of the first volume of the Journal of the South African Veterinary Medical Association, as the associa tion was then called, appeared in August 1927.For reasons that are not clear today, Volume 1 of the journal spanned 4 years, instead of the customary year, a single number of the journal appearing annually from 1927 to 1930.Volume 2 therefore appeared in 1931 and from then on volume numbers changed with each calendar year.The number of issues appearing each year varied considerably in the early decades but eventually settled down to 4 per year, which is still the case.
The main purpose of this article, apart from its com memorative objective, is to give the readers of this journal some historical insight into the background, personalities, qualifications and achievements of those dedicated people who served the veterinary profession so faithfully and selflessly, over a period of more than 70 years, by ensuring the regular appearance of a quality product that has helped to place and keep this country's veterinary science on the world map.

The first editor
It is clear from particulars printed in each number of the Journal of the South African Veterinary Association, as it is currently called, that the Association made use of an editorial committee from the inception of the journal.However, initially (and also in some later issues) the editor was not specifically identified.It is only in Volume 3, which appeared in 1932, that AD Thomas is identified as the 'managing editor '.The question, however, arises: Who edited the first and second volumes of the journal?
The editorial board of Volume 1, No. 1 (which appeared in 1927) consisted of G de Kock, A C Kirkpatrick and A Goodall.H H Curson's name was added in Volume 1, No. 2. Who the editor was in those first 2 years (1927 and 1928) is anybody's guess, but for the purposes of this article it will be assumed that it was G de Kock.Gilles van de Wall de Kock Gilles van de Wall de Kock was born in Pretoria on 1 December 1889.He was one of 2 prospective students who were sent abroad in 1909 by the Transvaal Government to study veterinary science, there being no local veterinary faculty at that time.He qualified as veterinary surgeon by obtaining an MRCVS in London in 1913.He subsequently joined the Onderstepoort Veterinary Laboratory under Sir Arnold Theiler in 1914.After stints on the farm Armoedsvlakte (botulism research?)and in London to study medicine, but returning from the latter after a year to join the newly founded agricultural faculty at Stellenbosch, in the expectation that a veterinary faculty would be established there, he eventually transferred to Onderstepoort, where the faculty was finally established in 1922.De Kock was the first professor of veterinary anatomy of the Onderstepoort faculty.
It is important to realise that initially all faculty appoint ments were parttime jobs for research institute employees, research being the primary task of the faculty staff.This system existed until 1957, when the first fulltime faculty posts were created, the faculty only becoming completely independent from the research institute in 1973.
In 1923, de Kock spent a year in Berne, Switzerland, and obtained a Dr MedVet degree.On his return he was appointed professor of pathology and was presumably also head of the pathology section.He also obtained a DSc degree at the University of Witwatersrand in 1928.On the retirement of Sir Arnold Theiler in 1927, Dr P J du Toit took up his position as director and Dr de Kock became his successor as 'Subdirector of Veterinary Research' at Onderstepoort.He succeeded du Toit as director in 1948.In the faculty, de Kock was transferred from pathology to become professor of comparative pathology in 1938, a position he held until his retirement in 1949.He died in Cape Town in 1973, having worked for many years at the Liesbeek Cancer Clinic after his retirement.
Dr de Kock was therefore 38 years old when the journal was launched, the most senior person in 'rank' on the first editorial committee, and presumably also its editor.

A D Thomas
It is also not clear exactly who was the editor of the journal in 1929, 1930 and 1931.Since A D Thomas is clearly identified as 'managing editor' in 1932 et seq.and his name is listed under the editorial committee in 1929 (not before), 1930 and 1931, it is probably safe to assume that his term of office dates from at least 1929.If this is correct, he was editor from 1929 to 1936, that is for 8 years.
Alexis Daniel Thomas was born at Chateaux d'Oex, Switzerland, on 12 July 1899 and emigrated to South Africa with his parents as a small boy.They settled on a farm in the northern Transvaal (now Northern Province) on which Thomas originally worked after his early schooling.He joined the South African Defence Force just before the end of World War I.After his discharge he was employed by the Department of Agriculture and stationed at Armoedsvlakte.He was then transferred to Onderstepoort as a laboratory assistant under Sir Arnold Theiler and saw service once again at Armoedsvlakte as well as at Allerton Veterinary Laboratory and Onderstepoort.
He obtained a matriculation certificate by private studies in 1922 and was allowed to enrol as student at Onderstepoort, the only student who completed the BVSc course in a parttime capacity while continuing to be employed.After qualifying in 1927 he transferred to the research staff at Onderstepoort, also acting as parttime lecturer and later as renowned professor of pathology in the Onderstepoort faculty.In 1929, only 2 years after qualifying as a veterinarian, he was awarded a DVSc degree in pathology.
In 1946 Prof. Thomas resigned from government service to establish a private practice in Pretoria.Nine years later, in 1955, he sold his practice and joined the Division of Vete rinary Services to initiate the establishment of a veterinary investigation centre in Louis Trichardt.He finally retired in 1965 at the age of 66 and took up farming, whereafter he moved to George and died in 1991 at the ripe old age of 92.Dr Thomas' term as editor apparently began when he was 30 years old, in the same year that he acquired his DVSc degree.It coincided with his term of office at Onder stepoort both as researcher and teacher in pathology.His career was closely associated with that of de Kock, apparently taking over from him as professor in veterinary pathology in 1938 (see above).Thomas' term as editor therefore apparently ceased shortly before he became professor of pathology.He was succeeded as editor by Prof. C Jackson.  initially studied veterinary anatomy and physiology at the Johannesburg University College -which later became the University of the Witwatersrand -and obtained a BSc degree in 1924.

C Jackson
After working for a year as registrar to the Hon.Mr Justice R A Tindall, he went to the Onderstepoort faculty to study veterinary science, obtaining a BVSc degree in 1929.
He started his veterinary career as research officer at the Onderstepoort Veterinary Laboratory and parttime lecturer in veterinary anatomy at the faculty in 1930.At the age of 31, in 1936, he was not only awarded a DSc degree (SA) for his classical thesis on 'The incidence and pathology of tumors of domesticated animals in South Africa', but was also appointed professor of anatomy in the faculty.Moreover, he also took on the responsibility of being editor of the journal from Dr Thomas towards the end of the year.
Prof    His term of office as editor lasted for 4 calendar years until 1951, when he was replaced by Robinson.His second stint, in 1953, lasted only about 6 months, when he was replaced by de Boom (see below).In 1965, basically the same thing happened.Dr A M Diesel died 'in office' (see below), and Clark edited the last 2 numbers of the journal in that year.It is not possible to determine with absolute certainly who edited the journal in 1968, 1969 and 1970, because the editor is not specifically identified.However, Clark's name heads the list of names of the editorial committee, which does not appear entirely in alphabetical order.Therefore it is reasonable to assume that the 62yearold Prof. Clark took over from Dr Ryksen (see below) in 1968 and edited the journal until the middle of 1970, when he was replaced by Prof. de Boom.He therefore served as editor for a total of about 6 calendar years.In 1986 he received a special award ('oorkonde') from the South African Veterinary Association for his dedicated service over many years to the veterinary profession.Dr Ryksen died in Bloemfontein on 23 July 1994 at the age of 91.

H P A De Boom
In 1966, when Dr Ryksen was appointed Secretary of the South African Veterinary Medical Association, he apparently took over the editorship from Prof. Clark, who had taken on the job unexpectedly in the middle of 1965 when Dr Diesel died (see above).Ryksen is also identified as editor in 1967, but was apparently relieved again by Clark for the December 1967 issue of the journal when he left the Association for personal reasons.Dr Ryksen was therefore about 63 years old when he became editor of the journal.

"Since this was the most senior position in Veterinary
Field Services at the time, Dr. Diesel was in charge of that organisation until he retired in September 1958, interestingly enough apparently at the age of 61 instead of 60."Although not clearly identified as such, he probably took over as editor of the journal, or chairman of the editorial committee, as listed in the journal during his term of office and clearly indicated in the 1976 issues of the journal, in the middle of 1975, when de Boom went to Cornell University as visiting professor.At this stage, van den Heever was about 52 years old and already professor at the Onderstepoort faculty.De Boom's claim, in his curriculum vitae, that he was editor in 1976 and 1977, cannot be substantiated, because his name is not listed as a member of the editorial committee during those 2 years.There is no doubt, however, that van den Heever was succeeded by de Boom for the latter's third term of office as editor in 1978.Van den Heever was therefore editor of the journal for about 3 years.

R C Tustin
Prof. R C Tustin succeeded Prof. de Boom as editor of the journal in 1980 at the age of 51.Royden Charles Tustin was born on 4 June 1929 in Empangeni, Natal.He matriculated at Maritzburg College and gradu ated from the Onderstepoort faculty with a BVSc degree in 1953.His first appointment was as private practitioner with the large firm of veterinarians headed by Dr Jack Boswell.In 1955 he took up an appointment in the bacteriology section of the Onderstepoort Vete rinary Research Institute, but was transferred on request to the pathology section in 1958.He also taught at the Onderstepoort faculty on a parttime basis from 1963.He furthermore obtained the MMedVet (Path) degree at the same faculty in 1977.
In 1970 he took up a position of research pathologist with the South African Medical Research Council, studying the carcinogenicity of various mycotoxins and toxic plants.However, in 1973 he accepted the newly created position of fulltime professor and head of the Department of Pathology in the now fullyfledged Faculty of Veterinary Science of the University of Pretoria, which in 1973 became independent from the Onderstepoort Veterinary Research Institute.He retired from this position in 1990 at the age of 61.Since retiring Tustin has, on invitation, lectured at the Koret School of Veterinary Medicine in Israel and participated in a botulism symposium in Brazil.He has also served on the edi torial committee of the prizewinning book entitled Infec tious Diseases of Livestock, which consists of 2 very comprehen sive volumes dealing mainly with animal diseases occurring in southern Africa.Tustin was already fulltime professor at the Onderstepoort faculty when he became editor of the journal.In his curriculum vitae he indicates that he was editor from 1979.This is in disagreement with the published information in the journal as well as in de Boom's curriculum vitae.
The former lists de Boom as editor in 1979.In the latter, de Boom claims that 1979 was the last year that he served in   His term of office as editor of the journal lasted from the end of 1987, when he was 39, until the middle of 1995, a period of about 7 years.At this stage he was professor at MEDUNSA.Under his editorship the journal earned the international status of being classified as a refereed journal by initiating the use of internationally recognised referees for the evaluation of contributions.
Dr van Heerden was replaced as editor in 1995, when he moved to Kimberley, by Dr ML Penrith.pig diseases.As editor of both the Annals of the South African Museum in Cape Town and Cimbebasia in Namibia, Dr Penrith obtained valuable experience in the editing of scientific publications before her appointment as editor of the Journal of the South African Veterinary Association in 1995 at the age of 53.She was then already employed at OVI, as outlined above.By the end of 1999 her term of office as editor totalled about 5 years.

ML Penrith
Under her management the journal has continued to maintain its international status and has earned a high South African ranking.

Conclusion
The Journal of the South African Veterinary Association came into the world much like any newborn, rather helpless and uncertain of itself, serving a youthful profession consisting mainly of civil servants and numbering little more than a mere handful of people.It stands to reason that the journal had to be nurtured and coddled in behindthescenes activities akin to parental guidance to ensure its survival.The early editors and the editorial committee were the proud sires and dams.These activities, which inevitably pass unnoticed by the unenlightened, did not cease as time progressed.Only their emphasis changed.The initial teething problems were replaced by the growing pains of adolescence, increasing enforced independence and the struggle to survive financially being everpresent challenges.
The relevant editors bore the brunt of these stresses and strains.A more recent challenge was to take steps to improve the journal's international scientific standing by the introduction of peer reviewing, which has become the accepted norm for quality periodicals.Again the editors concerned fearlessly applied the correct medicine.Instead of attracting fewer articles for publication on account of stricter vetting, the opposite has occurred.Indeed, the journal currently ranks among the top South African scientific periodicals, based on the customary citation index ratings.
Clearly then the 14 editors of the journal have been successful both before and behind the scenes.

Fig. 1 :
Fig. 1: Gilles van de Wall de Kock, who was the chairman of the editorial board and presumably also the first editor of the Journal of the South African Veterinary Medical Association when it first saw the light in 1927.

Fig. 3 :
Fig. 3: Cecil Jackson, who was editor of only 4 numbers of the journal, but was a member of its editorial committee for about 18 years.
. Jackson remained professor of anatomy at the Onderstepoort faculty until he resigned in September 1955 at the age of 50.Thereafter he was variously employed, first at the medical school of the University of the Witwatersrand, and then as senior research fellow of the National Cancer Association of South Africa.He left South Africa for Britain in 1957, but returned to Africa in 1958 to head the preclinical veterinary school at Makerere College, Kampala, Uganda, where he also served as professor of veterinary anatomy.In 1961 he accepted a post of principal research officer at the Biological Research Institute at Achimota, Ghana, and became acting director of the institute the following year.He died in Ghana on 5 January 1965 at the age of 60. M Sterne Max Sterne was born in 1905 in Trieste of Austrian parents who emigrated to South Africa when he was 4 years old.He grew up in Durban and excelled in sports such as boxing, swimming and athletics, both at school and university level.He graduated from the Onderstepoort faculty in 1928 with a BVSc degree.He then spent 2 years in the Belgian Congo managing a cattle ranch.Back in South Africa, he joined the government service and was posted to the Allerton Veterinary Laboratory in Natal to assist with the East Coast fever eradication campaign, as was the case with many young state veterinarians in those days.In 1934 he was transferred to Onderstepoort where he worked as assistant to Prof. EM Robinson (see below) and developed the still internationally used and acclaimed -57 years after its discovery -'spore' vaccine against anthrax.In 1947 Sterne obtained the Diploma in Bacteriology at the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and in 1951 left South Africa for England where he joined the Wellcome Research Laboratories.He died on 26 February 1997 in Hampshire at the age of 92.Dr Sterne took over as editor of the journal from Prof. Jackson in December 1937 when he was 32 years old and served in this capacity until 1942, a period of almost 6 calendar years.He was succeeded by his 'boss', Prof. Robinson.

Fig. 4 :
Fig. 4: Max Sterne, who was especially known for the development of the internationally acclaimed 'spore' vaccine against anthrax.

Fig. 5 :
Fig. 5: Eric Robinson, one of the longestserving editors of the journal.

"
Fig. 6: Richard Clark, particularly known to many veterinarians for his research and lectures on the physiology of the rumen.

Fig. 7 :
Fig. 7: Henri de Boom, probably the longest serving editor of the journal.It was during his second term, in 1972, that the veterinary association changed its name from the South African Veterinary Medical Association to South African VeterinaryAssociation, and the journal followed suit.

Fig. 8 :
Fig. 8: AM (Don) Diesel, one of only 2 editors of the journal who also served as president of the veterinary association.

Fig. 9 :
Fig. 9: Wilhelmus Ryksen acted as editor during the short spell that he served as secretary of the South African Veterinary Medical Association.

Fig. 10 :
Fig. 10: Lourens van den Heever, the only other editor who also served as president of the veterinary association.

N
Kriek was born in Pre toria on 19 January 1943.He matricula ted at the Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool in 1959, obtained the BVSc degree at the Onderste poort faculty in 1965 and the MMed Vet (Path) at the same faculty in 1977.Prof. Kriek was initially employed as a state veterinarian, then joined the Onderstepoort Vete rinary Research Insti tute, where he worked for 7 years in the toxi cology and pathology sections.He then became a researcher at the South African Medical Research Council, where he spent 5 years.His first involvement as fulltime teach er in patho logy was at the Onderstepoort faculty.From 1982 to 1990 he was professor and head of the Department of Pathology at the veterinary faculty of the Medical University of South Africa (MEDUNSA) and from 1991 to 1999 he held the same position at the Onderstepoort faculty.He was recently appointed as the first dean of the combined Onderstepoort and MEDUNSA veterinary faculties known as the Faculty of Veterinary Science.Prof. Kriek's term of office as editor of the journal started in 1985 when he was about 42 years old.He was then professor at MEDUNSA.He handed over the reigns to Dr J van Heerden towards the end of 1987, which means that he was editor for almost 3 calendar years.J Van Heerden Joseph van Heerden was born on 20 January 1948.He matriculated at the Northern Cape Agricultural High School in 1965 and graduat ed from the Onder stepoort faculty with a BVSc degree in 1970.Further qualifications include a MMedVet (Medicine) de gree in 1982 and a BSc (Hons) (Nat) in 1976, the latter constituting a wellknown qualification of the Uni versity of Pretoria in nature conservation.His employment record in cludes being senior lecturer in the Depart ment of Medicine of the Onder stepoort fac ulty from 1977 until 1982 and head of the Department of Companion Animal Medicine and Surgery in the Faculty of Veterinary Science of the Medical University of Southern Africa (MEDUNSA) from 1987 to 1997.Currently he is a private prac titioner in Kimberley.The scope of Dr van Heerden's services to the South African Veterinary Association has been exceptional.This includes representing the Wildlife Group on the Federal Council for 15 years, being nationally elected member of the latter since 1991 and chairman of the Awards Committee since 1995.He is the recipient of several South African Veterinary Association awards, including the President's Award in 1995.
Fig. 12: Nick Kriek is currently the Dean of the veterinary faculty.

Fig. 14 :
Fig. 14: MaryLouise Penrith, the current editor of the journal, is the first woman to fill this important office.

Fig. 13 :
Fig. 13: Joseph van Heerden who is, amongst others, spearheading the South African Veterinary Association's involvement in wildlife activities.
In 1920 he went to Berne, Switzerland, and was awarded a Dr MedVet degree on the strength of his studies on the carrier state in contagious abortion.Back in South Africa, he was put in charge of the Allerton Veterinary Laboratory.He returned to Onderstepoort in 1922 as researcher and part time lecturer in the newly established veterinary faculty at Onderstepoort.In time he was promoted to assistant director and deputy director of the institute.He also served as professor of infectious diseases in the Onderstepoort faculty from 1928.After his retirement from government service in 1951 at the age of 60, he was immediately reemployed by the faculty until 1956, when he joined the institute in a temporary capacity as liaison officer and later also the South African Bureau of Standards.In January 1960, at the age of 69, he left Pretoria to settle in Knysna, only to set up a private practice, which he eventually gave up in 1977.He died on 28 June 1982 at the age of 91.Prof.Robinson's first term as editor of the journal started in 1943, when he was 52 years old, and lasted for 5 calendar years until 1947, when he was succeeded by Prof. R Clark (see "In 1934 Max Sterne was transferred to Onderstepoortwhere he worked as assistant to Prof. EM Robinson and developed the still internationally used and acclaimed -57 years after its discovery -'spore' vaccine against anthrax." Cecil Jackson (see above).In 1957 de Boom became one of the first fulltime professors in the Onderstepoort faculty, when the lecturing posts of certain departments, such as anatomy, physiology, surgery and medi cine, were converted to fulltime academic positions.De Boom was a greatly respected, im mensely popular and extremely capable men tor who received many honours, such as the gold medal of the South African Vete rinary Association and DVSc honoris causa.Prof.de Boom retired from the Onder stepoort faculty in 1974 at the age of 60 but continued to be actively involved in teaching.From August 1975 until July 1976 he was guest professor at Cornell University in the USA.He led a fledgling Anatomy Department in Lourenço Marques (now Maputo), Mozambique, from 1968 to 1970.From 1979 to 1980 he taught anatomy and embryology at the medical faculty of the Medical University of South Africa (MEDUNSA) and eventually served as temporary head of the Anatomy Department of its veterinary faculty until 1985.He died at the age of 83 on 30 August 1998.
Prof. de Boom's first term as editor began in the middle