Einthoven, Willem (1860-1927), a Dutch physiologist, was the founder of electrocardiography. In 1903, he invented the string galvanometer, which records variations of electrical current. With his galvanometer, he was able to record the minute electrical impulse that travels through the heart with every beat. Modern electrocardiography is the direct outcome of papers published by Einthoven in 1907 and 1908.
From 1908 to 1913, Einthoven studied the normal electrical currents of the heart and so provided the basis for understanding abnormal electrical heart currents. Einthoven received the 1924 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for his discovery of the way electrocardiography works. He was elected to foreign membership in the British Royal Society in 1926.
Einthoven was born on May 21, 1860, in Semarang, Java. His family moved to the Netherlands in 1870. He studied at the University of Utrecht and became professor of physiology at the University of Leiden at 25. He died on Sept. 29, 1927.
Contributor: Dale C. Smith, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Medical History, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.
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