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Introductory Remarks

Father Damien de Veuster died at the leprosy settlement at Kalaupapa, Molokai 100 years ago. He contracted the disease after he had worked at the settlement for years, and has been widely recognized as a martyr for his selfless work at Kalaupapa. The settlement was designated a National Historical Park in 1980 and, as a part of the centennial celebrations, the church which Damien built at Kalaupapa has been restored.

Damien was born in Tremeloo, Belgium in 1840, one year before Armauer Hansen was born in Norway. In 1873, Damien arrived at Kalaupapa and Hansen, working half-way around the world in his laboratory in Bergen, Norway, discovered the bacillus which causes leprosy. It is likely that before his death, Damien learned of Hansen's discovery, but it was to be several decades before this knowledge would lead to a cure for leprosy.

Hansen's discovery was a landmark event, being the first association of a microorganism with human disease.