Rudolf Virchow's life is an eloquent instance of the way professional and political activities can and should be integrated, if physicians are to live up to the highest ideals of the profession. At one and the same time father of pathology and father of social medicine, Virchow carried the results of his research to the public arena by advocating such measures as medical care for the poor, compulsory meat inspection to eliminate trichinosis, and the improvement of public sanitation. Elected to public office, Virchow led the protest against Bismarck's militarism despite the personal risk involved. His disarmament resolution, had it been accepted, might have averted the tragic Franco‐Prussian War of 1870. Few of us can match his scientific accomplishments. Every physician can be inspired by his personal courage and his commitment to humane values. No task can be higher on the agenda of medicine than the defence of peace, the precondition for health in the nuclear era.
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