Endre Czeizel

Life & Legacy

Endre Czeizel (3 April 1935 – 10 August 2015) was a Hungarian physician, geneticist, public health administrator, and professor. He was a physician who graduated from Semmelweis University. He was known for discovering that vitamin B9 or folic acid prevents or reduces the formation of more serious developmental disorders, such as neural tube defects like spina bifida. He issued some of his English-language publications under the name Andrew E. Czeizel. He was the Hungarian Director of United Nations World Health Organization (1984-?). From 1996 thru 1998 he was the Director-General of the Hungarian National Institutes of Health. He died from leukemia following a successful bone marrow transplant after approximately one year.