Widukind Lenz passed away on February 25,1995, as a victim of his medical profession — since at least 1967, he had suffered from chronic hepatitis. In 1989, he was operated for carcinoma of the liver. He died from cirrhosis.

Lenz was born on February 4, 1919. His father, Fritz Lenz, was the leading intellectual representative of what was called ‘eugenics’ in Anglo-Saxon countries and ‘racial hygiene’ in Germany. It must have been difficult to grow up as the son of such a ‘prophet’, but W. Lenz managed to achieve independence. He studied medicine and in 1942 wrote a doctoral thesis in pediatrics at the University of Greifswald, The Possible Influence of Nutrition on Accelerated Growth, a subject already receiving attention. Why are many of us taller than our parents and grandparents? Why are our children so much taller than us? The fact that, parallel to this phenomenon, the average age of puberty in girls had decreased by no less than 3–4 years, was a biological process whose psychological and social impact has not yet reached the general public. Many explanations were given. At first glance, genetic causes seemed to be most likely, as twin and family studies showed evidence for genetic determination. However, possible genetic mechanisms such as hybrid vigor or natural selection had not been thoroughly investigated and the same was true for environmental influences such as urbanization or increased exposure to sunlight.

Widukind Lenz analyzed all the known facts and arrived at the conclusion that above all, this acceleration was most likely caused by improved nutrition. In 1949, he published his first book on this topic, Ernährung und Konstitution [1; see also réf. 2].

Having worked for some years in biochemistry, in 1951 Lenz joined Reinwein at the Department of Internal Medicine in Kiel, Germany. Between 1952 and 1961, he worked at the Department of Pediatrics, University of Hamburg, Germany. This was the period which most influenced Lenz’s medical and scientific orientation for the rest of his life. In 1961, he was made Professor of Human Genetics in Hamburg, and in 1965, he took over the chair of human genetics in Münster, Germany, where he remained until his retirement in 1989.

Lenz was one of the first German medical geneticists, whose clinical observations prompted genetic research. One of his early classics was the conclusion of X-linked dominant inheritance with lethality in hemizygous men for incontinentia pigmenti (Bloch-Sulzberger) [3]. This disorder is transmitted from affected women to, on average, half of their daughters, but never to sons. Two thirds of the offspring of affected women are daughters and the incidence of pregnancies ending in spontaneous abortions is noticeably high. These observations were sufficient for him to conclude X-linked dominant inheritance with male lethality. Characteristic for his working attitude was the combination of thorough clinical observation and a very broad knowledge — attributes which distinguished Lenz to an unusual degree. Meanwhile, this mode of inheritance has been recognized in a few other rare diseases. When Gartler and Francke [4] postulated half-chromatid mutations as a previously unknown mutational mechanism causing certain forms of mosaicism, Lenz recognized that this could explain the rare occurrence of males affected with incontinentia pigmenti [5].

In 1961, a catastrophe occurred which affected the professional and personal life of Widukind Lenz more than any other event [6]. At the end of the 1950s and the beginning of the 1960s, obstetricians and especially pediatricians noticed a drastic increase in the incidence of newborns with shortened and malformed extremities, sometimes associated with other malformations, especially of the skull region. We owe it particularly to Professor Wiedemann at Kiel for calling the attention of his colleagues to this ‘new’ syndrome [7]. In his farewell lecture, Lenz described dramatically how he was confronted with this event:

In June 1961,1 was consulted by the parents of a child who had been born with short arms and only three fingers on each hand. Shortly before, I had received inquiries about two similar cases and had replied that I was not aware of this specific type of malformation syndrome, but it seemed most likely to me to be due to a new mutation of a dominant gene. Shortly thereafter, however, further similar cases were born and other doctors reported similar observations. Hence, it seemed more and more unlikely that these cases were all due to new mutations of a gene that previously mutated extremely rarely.

Lenz started to systematically and thoroughly ask the parents about details of the gestational history. On November 11, 1961, a date he remembered well, he first began to suspect that the sedative Contergan (thalidomide) could be the cause of this ‘new’ malformation syndrome. Three days later, his suspicion turned into certainty and he communicated these observations to the manufacturer — Grünenthal — and recommended withdrawal of the agent. Only 13 days later, the company withdrew the drug from the market. In the meantime, Lenz had communicated on the matter at the meeting of the Rheinisch-Westfälische Pediatrics Society in Düsseldorf, where he pointed out that fourteen mothers of children with this syndrome had taken a specific compound; of twenty mothers with ‘normal’ children, only one had taken the same compound (and that at the end of her pregnancy). He did not disclose the name of the compound, but mentioned that he had informed the company. Lenz’s observations and conclusions were confirmed by other investigators in all parts of the world in which thalidomide had been used, including Australia and Japan.

What impressed me most at that time was Lenz’s resolute and fast action, especially as I knew him as a very cautious and critical scientist. However, once he was convinced of the teratogenic damage due to thalidomide, he knew that every day he hesitated, further fetuses could be harmed. The subsequent trial against the manufacturer ended with a compromise: the company had to make available a huge sum to indemnify the victims. However, in individual instances it was not always evident whether malformation was due to the thalidomide or had anything to do with exposure to this drug. These individual trials lasted for years, and Lenz was one of the principal experts.

After the disappearance of Contergan from the market, the Contergan embryopathy disappeared in those countries where it had been previously observed. Thereafter, however, thalidomide turned out to be an excellent drug against leprosy, especially in its acute and severe state. For this reason the World Health Organization has recommended its use for this special purpose, with the exception of women who could potentially be or become pregnant. Despite this restriction, it is not surprising that thalidomide embryopathy occasionally appeared again, and Lenz had learned about patients from Brazil and India during recent years.

As a consequence of the thalidomide catastrophe, Lenz saw more patients with limb malformations than any other scientist before him. Through this, he acquired expert knowledge in this difficult field, and was the first to describe other syndromes associated with limb deficiency, e.g. the FFU (femur-fibulaulna) complex, which virtually always occurs sporadically, and is possibly a nonhereditary combination of limb deficiencies [8].

Lenz once said to me that he considered himself more a scholar than a research scientist. This may be true. However, the thalidomide case showed him to be a scientist as well. In the tradition of European scholars, he published several books. The first was mentioned above, that on nutrition and growth in 1949. The most important for German students of medical genetics is his Medizinische Genetik, which first appeared in 1961 and has since seen six editions and been translated into English.

So much for Widukind Lenz as a scientist and scholar. Those who were closest to him realized that he was also much more — a human being, open to others, and very friendly. In his address on the occasion of his 70th birthday, he said

I am grateful… that, during my lifetime, I was able to receive and give trust… Trust does not exclude the ability to criticize … It is the basis of all trust… that we as human beings have something in common in the depth of our feeling, thinking and desire … Certainly, there might be differences. However, trust might help us to understand and respect these differences, and possibly to bridge them.

His colleagues had expected him to write a monograph on limb malformations, a topic that is not covered by any recent book. Death was faster. Lenz leaves behind a gap that will never really be filled — as scientist, medical doctor, human being, and — for me — as friend.