Henry Solomon Wellcome: A philanthropist and a pioneer sponsor of medical research in the Sudan

Henry Solomon Wellcome, the famous drug manufacturer had a fascinating association with the Sudan. Besides supporting tropical medicine research in this country, he established an extensive project in the Sudan that aimed at combining archeological excavations, philanthropy and social reform. This article is an archives-based account on this side of Wellcome's association with the Sudan. The article starts with Wellcome's early years in the American Midwest and the evolution of his career and his rise as a world-renowned drug manufacturer. After the battle of Omdurman, Wellcome visited Sudan in 1900 - 1901 where he offered to support the establishment of the research laboratories which later came to be known as the Wellcome Tropical Research Laboratories in Khartoum. He then became directly involved in the planning and running of extensive archeological excavations in the central Sudan. This project served as a field in which Wellcome found an outlet for his philanthropy. More than 4000 labourers were employed in Jebel Moya. Professional archeologists and anatomists were recruited by Wellcome to supervise the work, and all the requirements in terms of equipment were catered for. Wellcome devised a Savings Bank System whereby part of the earnings of each labourer were saved to him till the end of the season. He also introduced one of his innovations: aerial photography using box kite which was used for the first time in archeology. Wellcome made it a rule that no applicant should be turned away. The Camp Commandant had to find suitable work for each applicant, including the handicapped who were assigned to appropriate jobs like mending baskets or cutting grass for building huts. Wellcome's welfare work had a significant impact on the local inhabitants of Jebel Moya. Henry Solomon Wellcome, 1906. Oil painting by Hugh Goldwin Riviere. Credit: Wellcome Library.