Нarri Nevanlinna was a highly-regarded scholar in the fields of blood-group serology and population genetics. His pioneering work included research on the prevention of haemolytic disease of the newborn. For 40 yean Nevanlinna was also in charge of the Blood Transfusion Service of the Finnish Red Cross, developing it into a world-famous institution.
Background
Harri Nevanlinna was born into a well-known mathematical family. As he himself put it, he did not want to end up as the family's tail-ender, instead following his elder bothers example and studying Medicine after the Winter War and his completion of schooling. As a pupil, he had spent a summer at the home of the well-known gynaecologist and obstetrician Professor Mauno Rauramo, and - evidently inspired by Rauramo - he had already begun research at the Serobacteriological Institute on the causal mechanisms of haemolytic (Rh) disease of the newborn in the new-born child during his time as a student.
When the Finnish Red Cross established a committee in autumn 1947 to consider the founding of a Blood Transfusion Service, Nevanlinna, then a senior medical student, was invited to become the secretary of the committee. He was appointed director of the modest new institution on the 1st of January 1948.
Career
The Blood Transfusion Service grew and spread rapidly. When Nevanlinna retired after 40 years of work in 1988, it could be stated that he had developed a large national organization regarded around the world as an exemplary model of an efficient and reliable institution.
Nevanlinna adopted three important principles in setting up the Blood Transfusion Service: the voluntary and unpaid donation of blood, national self-sufficiency as regards blood and blood products, and country-wide operations. He succeeded in all three respects. He thought it especially important to stress the voluntary nature of blood donations both at home and abroad. He - a professor who had himself donated blood over 100 times - never ceased to be amazed and impressed by the fact that, time after time, blood donors responded to the appeals of the Blood Transfusion Service without gaining anything for themselves except a cup of coffee and a good feeling.
At heart, Nevanlinna was primarily a researcher and clinician. He completed the doctorate while doing his job at the Blood Transfusion Service, and three years later he qualified as a specialist in paediatrics. His dissertation was a basis for later Anglo-American studies that led to the preventation of Rh disease in the late 1960s. Nevanlinna returned once again to the subject of his research and created in Finland one of the world's most effective organizations for the prevention of haemolytic anaemia.
In the 1960s, his research interests shifted to the use of blood-group serology in population genetics. In this field he did pioneering work in elucidating the origins of the Finnish people. He was able to demonstrate convincingly that the Finns have a common genetic background, regardless of whether they speak Fin¬nish or Swedish as their mother tongue.
To his friends, Professor Nevanlinna was above all Harri, an unassuming man lacking any self-importance. His authority was never called into question, but he always sought the advice and opinions of his colleagues before making important decisions. His sense of humor and wit were splendid, and he was lightning-quick at exploiting the comedy of a situation. His huge stock of anecdotes is legendary.