Willem Kolff Interview (page: 2 / 9) Pioneer of Artificial Organs	Print Interview

Dr. Kolff, you mention that your high school years were difficult for you. Why was that? Did you not have close friends, or was it the school?

Willem Kolff: Oh no, I had close friends. I had no social problems.

Get the Flash Player to see this video. It's hard for anybody in the United States to realize how difficult and how exacting the program is of the Dutch high schools, certainly at that time. Here they have a little homework. I would have classes -- four in the morning, two in the afternoon -- and go home with homework for five different things. And, the following morning that had to be completed. And, if in Holland you get French, or English, you don't have it for one year or so, you have that the next year, too.

[ Key to Success ] Preparation

So, it is entirely different, it is very hard. The mortality rate, that means the people that drop out from high school, is very high. They then go to a lower grade school, which does not admit them to the university. But once you get through that high school, then any university would be open to you.

So when you were young, instead of satisfying your curiosity by reading books, you went out in the world and explored.

Willem Kolff: That's right. I have a problem, which is in my family. It's called alexia or dyslexia. I can spell difficult words, but at this time I cannot tell you whether "always" is spelled with one "l" or two "l's". This plagued me a great deal. There was one teacher who I had problems with. Out of all my work in the final examination, he made me accountable for the spelling errors, which I thought was a mean thing to do. I like to read, but I read slowly. I know the literature about artificial kidneys and artificial hearts quite well.

So you were punished for your dyslexia.

Willem Kolff: Yeah, and that was a very common thing. At that time, dyslexia was totally unknown. I've learned to live with it. I like to have a secretary who can spell, which is difficult to find. I have no further words of wisdom, except that you can learn to live with it. You can overcome it to a great extent by reading and by writing. Some of my brothers had it much more severely. My one brother who has severe dyslexia has been rather successful as a businessman, but he knows his limitations.

What advice might you give to a young person who doesn't get marvelous grades, doesn't seem superior in the class, but really has this deep desire to achieve something?

Willem Kolff: Some way or another he should make sure that he passes. In this day and age if they want to amount to anything, they must have an education. In Holland, if you passed the final exam of your high school you automatically could get into a university. Here is it different. If they want to go into medical school, for example, and their grades are not magnificent, let them do something in the community. Let them work in Planned Parenthood, or go to a rehabilitation center, or do a year of research in biology. Try to find something that you're interested in, that may help you get a little advantage over other students.

By the way, the guys with very high grades are not necessarily the people that are the most successful in later life. They may be the ones that can regurgitate gracefully, and they get very high grades. But if the guys that have to work for it and do not have such good grades can do something extra, and prove that they can perform, they may have a chance.

What did your parents think when you became an obvious success? Did they expect this of you?

Willem Kolff: They were very supportive, and have always been. You could call me somebody who grew up in a privileged situation. When I was a student at the University of Leiden, I belonged to the student club, because my father had belonged to the same student club. I had a man who came in the morning to wake me up and polish my shoes. You lived far above your means. But at that time that was the thing to do, if you could afford it. Sometimes I think in the United States it's believed that this is a drawback, that you don't work as hard, but that's not necessarily so.

What happened in your career that you didn't expect?

Willem Kolff: Originally, I planned to go to Indonesia. Indonesia at that time was a Dutch colony. I knew a young doctor could go be the head of the Department of Medicine of a large plantation way in the hinterland, and get wonderful experience. You could be independent, and do very much what you wanted, and still help people. That is what I had planned to do. I even followed a course in tropical medicine, but then the war came, and you couldn't get out. Circumstances have often played an important role.

Who gave you your first big break in your career?

Willem Kolff: I think an important event was when I went to the University of Groningen. I had studied medicine at the University of Leiden. Usually you couldn't be married and be a resident. But there was one University, with a Jewish Professor, Polak Daniels, who allowed his residents to be married, and live outside the hospital. He didn't pay me anything, but fortunately my wife had a little money, so we lived in a little house in Groningen.

Professor Daniels had one quality which I think is very important. There are some professors who want their students to do exactly what the professor is interested in. This man was different. He set us free, and when I wanted to pursue a certain thing, he would study it and help. All my life I've tried to follow that example and, where possible, allow my students to follow their interest. I know where I want to get in the long run, and we don't go there in a straight line, because these students want to go this way or that way. It takes longer, but it makes their life much more interesting if they can do it their way. Eventually we'll get where we want to be.

Dr. DeVries, who would you say gave you your first big break in medicine?

William DeVries: The first big break I had in medicine was Dr. Kolff. He was the doctor who invented the artificial heart, and the artificial kidney too. I was in medical school, it was lunch break and I forgot my lunch. I didn't want to mooch off my friends, and I didn't have any money, so I followed the crowd into this lecture hall and sat at the back. Dr. Kolff was just visiting this group of students. He started talking about the artificial heart and the artificial kidney, and I was absolutely enthralled. I couldn't believe people were actually doing this. All of a sudden, parts of my life just started coming together. I wanted to know more about this.

Get the Flash Player to see this video. After the lecture, I went down, and I said, "Dr. Kolff, I'm really amazed. This is a wonderful thing. Could I work with you maybe this summer?" And he said, "What's your name?" and I said, "DeVries." And he said, "Well, that's a good Dutch name. You're hired." So, because he was very proud of his Dutch heritage, my name got me into that job. And, he gave me a break, and gave Dr. Jarvik a break. You see, at that time, we didn't realize that he had talked to everybody else and tried to get them involved in it and all these older surgeons thought this was stupid. You know, "It will never work." So, he started talking to younger kids because we were young and idealistic, and impressionistic, and he could talk to us in and move us in any way he wanted to do. But, he took us and allowed us to do what we wanted to do -- what only youth could do. Stupid things! Walk into the face of criticism by learned men and never miss a beat. And, that's what we did.

He had a faith in youth, in letting us chart our own course. He let us do what we wanted to do. When we heard about the artificial heart, we said, "Why can't you do it? You ought to be able to do it." And then we did it. He gave us our first chance to try our legs and see what we could do. It was really exciting. He would never criticize you for something you missed or something you did, or making a wrong turn or making a mistake. He said that's just the way things go. But he was always quick to praise you and he always gave everybody else credit for what happened. For those lessons, I have held him in high esteem and will always have fond memories of him. He let me have the reins, and let me run.

What are his major contributions to medicine?

William DeVries: During the war, Dr. Kolff had the first successful dialysis patient. He has saved hundreds of thousands of people's lives with the invention of the artificial kidney or renal dialysis. At the Cleveland Clinic, in the early '50s, he got involved in the artificial heart while working on dialysis, and developed the first artificial hearts. He ushered in the whole concept of artificial circulation. He started people from all over the world refining and developing this concept. I think the credit for the artificial heart should really go to him.

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