Gerhard Henrik Armauer Hansen (1841-1912)--100 years anniversary tribute.

2012 marks the 100th year of death of Gerhard Henrik Armauer Hansen (1841-1912), who discovered Mycobacterium leprae, but also gave the first systematic scientific work on the leprosy of the eye. The article reviews his life and scientific achievements with special regard to eye and ophthalmology.

[Vision 2020: 100 years of river blindness research].

Background: The early investigators of onchocerciasis from 1874 - 1930 in Africa made no mention at all of concomitant severe eye disease. Publications of the observations in Central America in 1917/1919 prompted some specialists in tropical medicine to look for eye disease associated with African onchocerciasis. However, there did not seem to be any eye disease leading to blindness.