Background
Teusler was born in Rome, Georgia, in 1876. He was the son of Rudolf and Mary Jefferson (Bolling) Teusler; his father was of German descent. Part of his childhood was spent in Wytheville, Va. , but in 1884 Richmond became his home.
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Rudolf Bolling Teusler
Edit ProfileEducation
His preliminary education was received in Gordonsville Academy and in private schools. At the early age of seventeen he entered the Medical College of Virginia, where he was graduated in 1894.
Career
After visiting hospitals in Baltimore, Montreal, and Quebec, he began practice in Richmond, and almost immediately joined the faculty of the Medical College of Virginia as assistant professor of pathology and bacteriology. Beginning in 1894, he also served in the city dispensary of Richmond and as assistant surgeon and later as surgeon in the 16t Regiment of Virginia Volunteers, Infantry.
In 1900 he went to Tokyo, Japan, under the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church and there, in the service of that Society, entered upon the career which brought him distinction and which was ended only by his death. On his arrival he discovered the hospital building and equipment placed at his disposal to be hopelessly inadequate. He thereupon closed the establishment and gave himself to the study of the language and to making contacts with Japanese. Later, having formulated plans which seemed to him adapted to the situation, he opened a small hospital which, under the name of St. Luke's, was to achieve a place in Japan of unique importance.
For years he served as physician to the foreign embassies in Tokyo and devoted the large income which came to him from these appointments and from other private practice to the enlargement and work of the hospital. He was a pioneer in Japan in public health methods, the professional training of nurses, preventive medicine, and child welfare. He also supervised the Hospital of St. Barnabas in Osaka.
From 1918 to 1921 he interrupted his life in Tokyo to serve in Siberia with the Allied Forces as commissioner of the Red Cross.
The fire following the earthquake which devastated so much of Tokyo in 1923 destroyed St. Luke's, but the staff of physicians and nurses displayed great heroism in ministering to the sufferers from the disaster. A few months later a second, improvised hospital was also destroyed by fire. Undaunted, Teusler seized the opportunity to realize a project for a greatly enlarged building. This had been proposed as early as 1912 and part of the necessary money had already been collected. Large additional funds were now obtained, mainly from the United States, and in the heart of Tokyo a model plant was erected, which included what was said to be the largest X-ray equipment in the Far East and provision for a college for nurses, the first of its kind in Japan. The Japanese government gave official recognition and assistance, the Emperor served as patron and made a substantial contribution, help came from private Japanese sources, and in June 1933, only a little over a year before Teusler's death, the new building of St. Luke's International Medical Centre was formally dedicated.
Achievements
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Dr. Teusler is remembered in Japan as the founding physician, chief fundraiser and administrative head of St. Luke's International Hospital, an institution founded in 1902, that continues to operate as a high profile hospital and medical teaching facility in central Tokyo. He is also remembered for his pioneering work in the establishment of Japan's first college of nursing, as well as for public health, child welfare and preventative medicine programs. In recognition of his services Teusler was, at different times, decorated with the Russian Order of Saint Vladimir, the Czechoslovakian War Medal, and the (Japanese) Order of the Rising Sun.
Personality
He combined single-hearted unselfishness with indomitable perseverance, resourcefulness, personal charm, rare gifts as an organizer, and marked skill as a surgeon.
Connections
On July 21, 1898, he married Mary Stuart Woodward, by whom he had four children.
References
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Born
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Died
August 10, 1934 (aged 58) -
Nationality
German