Mathilde Krim was working as a biology researcher in Geneva when she met her first husband, a member of the Irgun. She converted to Judaism, and after earning her PhD in 1953, moved to Israel. There, Krim worked at the Weizmann Institute, contributing to pioneering research that laid the foundations for amniocentesis. In 1957, she married Arthur Krim, a movie mogul and philanthropist, and moved to America, where she continued her work in oncology and led a research program at Sloan-Kettering. In 1983, she began researching Kaposi’s sarcoma, an AIDS-related skin cancer, and in 1985, she founded the American Foundation for AIDS Research with Elizabeth Taylor, raising money for research and lobbying. In 2000, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her commitment to AIDS research.
Overview and Early Life
Mathilde Krim was unique among philanthropists. She was able to combine her years of experience in medical research with her extraordinary skills as a fund-raiser to create and sustain AmfAR (the American Foundation for AIDS Research), the preeminent national organization supporting research on AIDS and advocating public policies that respond to the needs of people with AIDS. In the year 2000, President Bill Clinton awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom—the highest civilian honor in the United States—for her “extraordinary compassion and commitment” to AIDS patients and research.
Krim was born in Como, Italy, on July 9, 1926, the first of Elizabeth Rosa Krause and Eugene Emmanuel Galland’s four children. Eugene Galland was the son of a Swiss Calvinist and an Italian Catholic; Elizabeth Krause was the daughter of Austrian Catholics who were then living in Czechoslovakia. At the time of his marriage, Eugene Galland had earned a PhD and was working in Italy as an agronomist.
Mathilde (Galland) Krim was thus born into a multinational, multireligious family, with relatives who spoke French, German, and Italian, who lived in Italy, Czechoslovakia, and Switzerland, and who attended both Protestant and Catholic churches. When she was a small child, her parents moved to Geneva, Switzerland, where her father found employment as a municipal public health officer. This was not the kind of work for which his doctorate had prepared him, but Mussolini’s Italy had not been kind to him and he had felt obliged to leave.
Mathilde was educated in Geneva. Immediately after completing secondary school at the École Supérieure des Jeunes Filles, she entered the University of Geneva where, over her parents’ objections, she enrolled in the faculty of biology.
Biology Research and Career in Israel
Early in her university career, Krim came to the attention of the noted invertebrate embryologist Émile Guyenot, who, impressed with her technical and experimental skill, invited her to be an assistant in his laboratory. In 1948, she was granted the License degree (the equivalent of a bachelor of science degree in the United States). She continued to work as an employee in Guyenot’s laboratory but independently undertook exceptionally difficult electron micrographical studies of the chromosomes of some of the organisms that interested Guyenot. For these latter studies she was awarded a PhD in 1953.
Thus she became a member of the very tiny group of women with advanced degrees in science. From her vantage point, however, this accomplishment almost paled by comparison to the other extraordinary turn that her life had taken. During the war years, she had found a job as a part-time clerk in the office of a Jewish lawyer, Maître Jean Heyman. Assigned the task of carrying papers to various government offices, she became dimly aware that, for some reason, large numbers of Jews were trying desperately to get Swiss visas. In the spring of 1945, in a newsreel preceding a film she had gone to see, she found out the reason—a discovery, she says, that changed her life. Her parents did not sympathize with her passionate concern with the Holocaust and its victims. Somewhat apolitical, they had more or less assumed that Europe would be improved when the Axis was successful and were initially unwilling even to believe that the Holocaust had happened.
In the late 1940s, a small group of Palestinian Jews (as they were then called) began attending Geneva’s world-famous medical school, and Mathilde, to her parents’ dismay, became friendly with them. She began taking courses in the history of Judaism and also became involved in some of their underground gunrunning enterprises. In the summer of 1948, just a few months after the founding of the State of Israel, she married one of those medical students, David Danon. Danon was a member of the Irgun; his medical studies and his residence in Geneva were frequently interrupted by his political and military activities. Nonetheless, the couple managed, during those years, to coauthor several papers on electron micrography. Their daughter, Daphna, was born in Geneva in 1951. When Daphna was eighteen months old, their degrees finally completed, the Danons moved to Israel. Mathilde had converted to Judaism before her marriage, but in Israel it proved necessary for her to undergo the training, examinations, and ceremony again.
The marriage did not flourish in Israel, in part because Krim was not enthusiastic about the hard life of desert pioneering to which her husband was attracted. In 1953, because of her unusual skills in electron micrography, she had found a job as a research assistant at the newly founded Weizmann Institute in Rehovot. She was able to work and care for Daphna because, early on, the institute had created a child-care center for its employees. Within a year, Mathilde was promoted to junior scientist (and, subsequently, to research associate) and was living with her daughter in a small apartment on the grounds of the institute, having separated from her husband.
During her years at Weizmann, Krim worked in the laboratory headed by Leo Sachs; she coauthored, with Sachs and others, more than a dozen research papers. The very first of these research studies was the one for which Sachs’s laboratory is probably most famous: “The Diagnosis of Sex Before Birth Using Cells from the Amniotic Fluid.” This paper was rushed into print in order to establish priority for this fundamental discovery, which helped lay the foundation for the prenatal diagnostic technique called amniocentesis and the discipline called medical genetics. As a result of this work, Krim became an expert on the then new techniques of cell culturing. She also did some research on the viruses that cause some forms of cancer.
Research and Philanthropy in New York
In 1957, she met Arthur Krim, a wealthy American, who was a trustee of the Weizmann Institute. They married a year later. At first, the Krims thought that they could manage to live apart (he in New York, she in Rehovot), but they soon realized that this arrangement was untenable. Mathilde Krim and her daughter moved to New York and to an entirely different world. At the time of their marriage, Arthur Krim was the president of United Artists, a leading film production studio. He was also involved in fund-raising for the Democratic Party and in numerous other philanthropic and policy-related activities. His wife fairly quickly became his partner.
These activities were not, however, sufficient to satisfy Krim’s restless intellect. Within a few months, she had found a job as part of a research team at Cornell Medical College in New York (and, subsequently, at the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research, also in New York), working on various cancer-inducing agents. In part because of her involvement in this research, Krim was appointed to the congressional advisory commission on the war against cancer. She soon became interested not in the agents that cause cancer but in the family of natural substances—the interferons—that were then thought to have great potential as cures for various cancers as well as for other diseases.
For a decade, between 1975 and 1985, Krim served either as the coleader or the leader of Sloan-Kettering’s research and clinical evaluation program on interferon. During those years, she published (with many coauthors) more than thirty scientific papers on interferon and also organized a series of international research workshops.
AIDS Research and Advocacy
In 1983, Krim and her laboratory staff were asked to assist in the treatment of some Sloan-Kettering patients who were suffering with a rare skin cancer, Kaposi’s sarcoma, which was associated with a new immunological disease, AIDS. At that time, her laboratory work was beginning to wind down. Interferon therapies had not proved successful, and many of the young people trained in her laboratory had been hired away by the burgeoning biotechnology industries. Simultaneously, Krim became fascinated by AIDS research, sympathetic to those with the disease, and enraged by the dual difficulties involved in funding the research and aiding the victims.
In 1985, these sentiments—coupled with her extraordinary social and political network—inspired her to create a foundation dedicated to fund-raising for AIDS research and advocacy. Although she held an adjunct appointment as professor of public health at the Columbia University School of Public Health, most of Krim’s time and energy, after 1985, was devoted to various fund-raising, supervisory, and lobbying activities, all directed either to finding a cure for the AIDS virus or to creating supportive public programs to help people with the disease. After 1990, when the American Foundation for AIDS Research merged with a similar organization on the West Coast (created by Elizabeth Taylor), Krim served as its founding cochair and chairperson of the board.
Mathilde Krim held fourteen honorary degrees and was the recipient of numerous other honors. In addition to serving on the advisory commission on cancer (1970–1971), she was a member of the President’s Committee on Mental Retardation (1966–1969) and the President’s Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research (1979–1981). Reflecting her various interests and concerns, she was an active member of the boards of the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute, the National Biomedical Research Foundation, the Committee of 100 for National Health Insurance, the Federation of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, and the African-American Institute.
Mathilde Krim died at her home in Kings Point, New York, on January 15, 2018.
Selected Works by Mathilde (Danon) Krim
“The Diagnosis of Sex before Birth Using Cells from the Amniotic Fluid,” with L. Sachs et al. Bulletin of the Research Council of Israel 5B (1955): 137–138.
“Electron Micrograph of a Chromosome of Triton,” with E. Guyenot, E. Kellenberger, and J. Weigle. Nature 165 (1950): 33.
“Prenatal Diagnosis of Sex Using Cells from Amniotic Fluid,” with L. Sachs and D.M. Serr. Science 123 (1956): 548.
“Towards Tumor Therapy with Interferons. Part I. Interferons: Production and Properties,” and Part 2. Interferons: In Vivo Effects.” Blood 55 (1980): 711–721, 875–884.
Friedman, Jeanette. “Dr. Mathilde Krim: Caring Heart.” Lifestyles (Summer 1995): 6–9.
Krim, Mathilde. Interview by author, August 1996, and Typescript of biographical essay on Arthur Krim.
McFadden, Robert D. “Mathilde Krim, Mobilizing Force in an AIDS Crusade, Dies at 91.” The New York Times, January 16, 2018., www.nytimes.com/2018/01/16/obituaries/mathilde-krim-mobilizing-force-in-an-aids-crusade-dies-at-91.html.
Mathilde Krim alikuwa akifanya kazi kama mtafiti wa biolojia huko Geneva alipokutana na mume wake wa kwanza, mshiriki wa Irgun. Alipokuwa amejiunga na dini ya Kiyahudi, baada ya kuhitimu katika mwaka wa 1953, alihamia Israel. Akiwa huko, Krim alifanya kazi katika Taasisi ya Weizmann, akichangia utafiti wa upainia ulioweka msingi wa amniocentesis. Mwaka 1957 aliolewa na Arthur Krimm, mtaalamu wa filamu na mfadhili, na kuhamia Marekani, ambapo aliendelea na kazi yake katika oncology na kuongoza programu ya utafiti katika Sloan-Kettering. Alianza utafiti wake wa sarcoma ya Kaposi mnamo 1983 na kuanzisha shirika la American Foundation for AIDS Research pamoja na Elizabeth Taylor. Mwaka 2000, alipewa tuzo ya Presidential Medal of Freedom kwa kujitolea kwake katika utafiti wa UKIMWI. Matokeo ya kwanza ya maisha ya Mathilde Krimm ni ya kipekee. Aliweza kuchanganya uzoefu wake wa miaka mingi katika utafiti wa matibabu na ujuzi wake wa kipekee kama mkusanyaji wa fedha kuunda na kudumisha AmFAR (American Foundation for AIDS Research), shirika la kitaifa la kuongoza linalounga mkono utafiti wa UKIMWI na kutetea sera za umma zinazokabiliana na mahitaji ya watu wenye UKIMWI. Mwaka 2000, Rais Bill Clinton alimpa tuzo ya Presidential Medal of Freedom, heshima ya juu zaidi ya raia nchini Marekani, kwa "huruma na kujitolea kwake kwa wagonjwa wa ukimwi na utafiti." Alizaliwa huko Como, Italia, Julai 9, 1926, kama mtoto wa kwanza kati ya watoto wanne wa Elizabeth Rosa Krause na Eugene Emmanuel Galland. Eugene Galland alikuwa mwana wa Mkatoliki wa Italia na Mkatoliki wa Uswisi; Elizabeth Krause alikuwa binti ya Wakatoliki wa Austria waliokuwa wakiishi wakati huo katika Chekoslovakia. Wakati wa ndoa yake, Eugene Galland alikuwa amepata shahada ya udaktari na alikuwa akifanya kazi nchini Italia kama mtaalamu wa kilimo. Mathilde (Galland) Krim alizaliwa katika familia ya watu wa mataifa mbalimbali na wa dini mbalimbali, na watu wa ukoo wake walizungumza Kifaransa, Kijerumani, na Kiitaliano, waliishi Italia, Chekoslovakia, na Uswisi, na walihudhuria makanisa ya Kiprotestanti na ya Kikatoliki. Alipokuwa mtoto mdogo, wazazi wake walihamia Geneva, Uswisi, ambapo baba yake alipata kazi kama afisa wa afya ya umma wa manispaa. Hii haikuwa aina ya kazi ambayo udaktari wake alikuwa amemtayarisha, lakini Italia ya Mussolini haikuwa na fadhili kwake na alikuwa amehisi kuwa na wajibu wa kuondoka. Mathilde alisomea huko Geneva. Mara baada ya kumaliza shule ya sekondari katika École Supérieure des Jeunes Filles, aliingia Chuo Kikuu cha Geneva ambapo, juu ya mapingamizi ya wazazi wake, alijiandikisha katika kitivo cha biolojia. Alipokuwa akisoma chuo kikuu, alimvutia mtaalamu wa viini vya wanyama wasio na uti wa mgongo, Émile Guyenot, ambaye alivutiwa na ustadi wake wa kiufundi na wa majaribio na akamwalika kuwa msaidizi katika maabara yake. Mwaka 1948 alipata shahada ya kwanza ya ufundi (License Degree) ambayo ni sawa na shahada ya kwanza ya sayansi nchini Marekani. Aliendelea kufanya kazi kama mfanyakazi katika maabara ya Guyenot lakini kwa kujitegemea alifanya masomo magumu sana ya elektroni ya kromosomu ya baadhi ya viumbe ambavyo vilimvutia Guyenot. Kwa masomo hayo ya mwisho alipewa shahada ya PhD mwaka 1953. Hivyo akawa mshiriki wa kikundi kidogo sana cha wanawake wenye digrii za juu katika sayansi. Hata hivyo, kwa maoni yake, mafanikio hayo hayakuwa na maana sana kwa kulinganishwa na mabadiliko mengine ya ajabu yaliyokuwa yametukia katika maisha yake. Wakati wa vita, alikuwa amepata kazi ya muda katika ofisi ya mwanasheria Myahudi, Maître Jean Heyman. Alipokuwa akipelekwa katika ofisi mbalimbali za serikali, aliona kwamba Wayahudi wengi walikuwa wakijaribu sana kupata vibali vya kusafiri kwenda Uswisi. Katika spring ya 1945, katika newsreel kabla ya filamu alikuwa amekwenda kuona, yeye aligundua sababu - ugunduzi, yeye anasema, kwamba iliyopita maisha yake. Wazazi wake hawakuhisi huruma kwa sababu ya hangaiko lake la kihisia-moyo kwa ajili ya yale Maangamizi Makubwa na waathirika wake. Kwa kuwa hawakuwa na nia ya kisiasa, waliamini kwamba Ulaya ingeendelea kuwa bora zaidi wakati Ushindi wa Axis ulipofanikiwa, na mwanzoni hawakuamini hata kwamba yale Maangamizi Makubwa ya Wayahudi yalikuwa yametukia. Katika miaka ya 1940s, kikundi kidogo cha Wayahudi wa Palestina (kama walivyoitwa wakati huo) walianza kuhudhuria shule ya kitiba maarufu ulimwenguni ya Geneva, na Mathilde, kwa mshangao wa wazazi wake, akawa rafiki nao. Alianza kuchukua kozi katika historia ya Dini ya Kiyahudi na pia akajihusisha na baadhi ya biashara zao za chini ya ardhi za usafirishaji wa silaha. Mwaka 1948 baada ya kuanzishwa kwa taifa la Israeli, alioa mwanafunzi mmoja wa kitiba, David Danon. Danon alikuwa mwanachama wa Irgun; masomo yake ya matibabu na makazi yake huko Geneva mara nyingi yalikatizwa na shughuli zake za kisiasa na kijeshi. Hata hivyo, katika miaka hiyo, wenzi hao walifaulu kuandika makala kadhaa kuhusu kompyuta. Binti yao, Daphna, alizaliwa Geneva mwaka wa 1951. Daphna alipokuwa na umri wa miezi kumi na minane, familia ya Danon ilihamia Israeli. Mathilde alikuwa amegeuzwa imani na kuwa Myahudi kabla ya ndoa yake, lakini huko Israeli ilionekana kuwa lazima apate mazoezi, mitihani, na sherehe tena. Ndoa hiyo haikufanikiwa huko Israeli, kwa sababu Krim hakupendezwa na maisha magumu ya upainia wa jangwani ambayo mume wake alipendezwa nayo. Katika mwaka wa 1953, kwa sababu ya ustadi wake wa ajabu katika elektroniki, alipata kazi ya msaidizi wa utafiti katika Taasisi ya Weizmann iliyokuwa imeanzishwa hivi karibuni huko Rehovot. Aliweza kufanya kazi na kumtunza Daphna kwa sababu, mapema, taasisi hiyo ilikuwa imeanzisha kituo cha utunzaji wa watoto kwa ajili ya wafanyakazi wake. Baada ya mwaka mmoja, Mathilde alipandishwa cheo na kuwa mwanasayansi mdogo (na baadaye, msaidizi wa utafiti) na alikuwa akiishi na binti yake katika nyumba ndogo kwenye uwanja wa taasisi hiyo, baada ya kutengana na mumewe. Katika miaka yake katika Weizmann, Krim alifanya kazi katika maabara iliyoongozwa na Leo Sachs; yeye co-authored, na Sachs na wengine, zaidi ya karatasi za utafiti kumi na mbili. "Mchoro wa kwanza wa utafiti huo, ""Uchunguzi wa Ngono Kabla ya Kuzaliwa kwa Kutumia Chembe za Umwagaji wa Amniotic,"" ulichapishwa haraka ili kuanzisha kipaumbele kwa ugunduzi huu wa msingi, ambao ulisaidia kuweka msingi wa mbinu ya utambuzi wa kabla ya kuzaliwa inayoitwa amniocentesis na taaluma inayoitwa genetics ya matibabu." Kwa sababu ya kazi hiyo, Krim akawa mtaalamu wa mbinu mpya za kukuza chembe za mwili. Pia alifanya utafiti fulani kuhusu virusi vinavyosababisha aina fulani za kansa. Katika 1957, alikutana na Arthur Krim, Mmarekani tajiri, ambaye alikuwa mdhamini wa Taasisi ya Weizmann. Walifunga ndoa mwaka mmoja baadaye. Mwanzoni, familia ya Krym ilidhani kwamba wangeweza kuishi mbali (yule huko New York, yeye huko Rehovot), lakini punde si punde walitambua kwamba mpango huo haungeweza kudumishwa. Mathilde Krim na binti yake walihamia New York na ulimwengu tofauti kabisa. Wakati wa ndoa yao, Arthur Krim alikuwa rais wa United Artists, studio inayoongoza ya uzalishaji wa filamu. Pia alihusika katika kukusanya fedha kwa ajili ya Chama cha Kidemokrasia na katika shughuli nyingine nyingi za hisani na sera zinazohusiana. Mke wake akawa mshirika wake upesi sana. Hata hivyo, shughuli hizo hazikutosha kumridhisha Krim. Baada ya miezi michache, alipata kazi katika chuo cha Cornell Medical College huko New York (na baadaye katika Taasisi ya Sloan-Kettering ya Utafiti wa Saratani, pia huko New York), akifanya kazi ya kutafiti vitu mbalimbali vinavyosababisha kansa. Kwa sababu ya ushiriki wake katika utafiti huo, Krim aliteuliwa kuwa mshiriki wa tume ya ushauri ya bunge kuhusu vita dhidi ya kansa. Baada ya muda mfupi, alianza kupendezwa na familia ya vitu vya asili - interferons - ambavyo vilidhaniwa kuwa na uwezo mkubwa wa kutibu kansa mbalimbali na magonjwa mengine. Kwa miaka kumi, kati ya 1975 na 1985, Krim alihudumu kama co-mkurugenzi au kiongozi wa utafiti wa Sloan-Kettering na programu ya tathmini ya kliniki juu ya interferon. Katika miaka hiyo, alichapisha (na waandishi wengi) zaidi ya karatasi thelathini za kisayansi juu ya interferon na pia aliandaa mfululizo wa warsha za utafiti wa kimataifa. Katika mwaka wa 1983, Krimm na wafanyakazi wake wa maabara waliombwa kusaidia katika matibabu ya baadhi ya wagonjwa wa Sloan-Kettering ambao walikuwa wakiteseka na sarcoma ya Kaposi, sarcoma ya ngozi isiyo ya kawaida, ambayo ilihusishwa na ugonjwa mpya wa kinga, Ukimwi. Wakati huo, kazi yake ya maabara ilikuwa ikianza kupungua. Matibabu ya Interferon hayakuwa na mafanikio, na vijana wengi waliozoezwa katika maabara yake walikuwa wameajiriwa na viwanda vya bioteknolojia vilivyokuwa vikikua. Wakati huo huo, Krim alivutiwa na utafiti wa UKIMWI, akawahurumia wale walio na ugonjwa huo, na kukasirika na ugumu wa mara mbili unaohusika katika kufadhili utafiti na kusaidia waathirika. Katika 1985, hisia hizi, pamoja na mtandao wake wa ajabu wa kijamii na kisiasa, zilimchochea kuunda msingi wa kukusanya fedha kwa ajili ya utafiti wa UKIMWI na utetezi. Ingawa alishikilia nafasi ya profesa wa afya ya umma katika Chuo Kikuu cha Columbia, wakati na nishati nyingi za Krimm baada ya 1985 zilitumika kwa shughuli mbalimbali za kukusanya fedha, usimamizi, na shughuli za kushawishi, zote zikiwa zimekusudiwa kupata tiba ya virusi vya Ukimwi au kuunda mipango ya umma ya kusaidia watu walio na ugonjwa huo. Baada ya mwaka wa 1990, wakati Shirika la Marekani la Utafiti wa Ukimwi lilipoungana na shirika kama hilo katika pwani ya Magharibi (iliyoundwa na Elizabeth Taylor), Krim alitumikia kama mwenyekiti mwenza wa mwanzilishi na mwenyekiti wa bodi. Mathilde Krim alikuwa na digrii kumi na nne za heshima na alikuwa mpokeaji wa heshima nyingine nyingi. Pamoja na kuwa mshiriki wa Kamati ya Ushauri juu ya Saratani (1970 - 1971), alikuwa mwanachama wa Kamati ya Rais juu ya Uharibifu wa Akili (1966 - 1969) na Kamati ya Rais kwa Utafiti wa Matatizo ya Kimaadili katika Tiba na Biomedical na Utafiti wa Tabia (1979 - 1981). Alifanya kazi katika vyama vya American Committee for the Weizmann Institute, National Biomedical Research Foundation, Committee of 100 for National Health Insurance, Federation of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, na African-American Institute. Mathilde Krim alikufa nyumbani kwake huko Kings Point, New York, Januari 15, 2018. Kazi zilizochaguliwa na Mathilde (Danon) Krim <unk>Uchunguzi wa Ngono kabla ya Kuzaliwa Kutumia Chembe kutoka kwa Umajimaji wa Amniotic, <unk> na L. Sachs et al. Gazeti la Baraza la Utafiti la Israeli (Bulletin of the Research Council of Israel) (B) (B) (B) (B) (B) (C) (C) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) <unk>Electron Micrograph of a Chromosome of Triton,<unk> na E. Guyenot, E. Kellenberger, na J. Weigle. (Mwanzo, sura ya 165, sehemu ya 3 ya kitabu cha Nature, mwaka wa 1950). <unk>Uchunguzi wa kabla ya kuzaliwa wa ngono kwa kutumia chembe kutoka kwa umajimaji wa amniotic,<unk> na L. Sachs na D.M. Serr. (Kushoto) Sayansi 123 (1956) <unk>Kwenye Tiba ya Tumor na Interferons. Sehemu ya I. Interferons: Uzalishaji na Mali, <unk> na Sehemu ya 2. Interferons: In vivo Effects. <unk> Damu 55 (1980): 711<unk>721, 875<unk>884. Friedman, Jeanette. <unk>Daktari. Mathilde Krim: Moyo wa Kujali. <unk> Lifestyles (Summer 1995): 6 <unk> 9. Krim, Mathilde. Mkutano wa kwanza wa majarida ya kuhitimu, uliofanyika mnamo Agosti 1996, ulijumuisha majarida ya kuhitimu ya Arthur Kramer. "Mathilde Krimm, ""Mobilizing Force in an AIDS Crusade,"" Dies at 91"": The New York Times, Januari 16, 2018; [http: www.nytimes.com ] [http: www.nytimes.com ] [http: www.nytimes.com ] [http: www.nytimes.com ] [http: www.nytimes.com ] [http: www.nytimes.com ] [http: www.nytimes.com ] "