Louis Vogelpoel

Who was Louis Vogelpoel?

Louis Vogelpoel was a South African general physician, cardiologist and horticultural scientist. He was a "world expert on wild flowers with an orchid named after him". His sister was Pauline Vogelpoel.

Louis graduated from the University of Cape Town in 1945 with first class honours and a prize for the best student of that year. He was awarded the C J Adams and Nuffield dominion fellowships, which allowed him to spend two years at the National Heart Hospital in London] in the early fifties, where he developed his lifelong interest and expertise in cardiology. He married in 1951. He trained under Paul Wood. He returned to Cape Town in 1953 and was appointed as a part-time physician and lecturer in the department of medicine and cardiac clinic at the University of Cape Town and Groote Schuur Hospital. He was one of the founding members of the Cardiac Clinic at Groote Schuur Hospital and University of Cape Town.

His clinical research activities resulted in the award of an MD with first class honours in 1959 and the publication of many papers, some of which are still quoted. Many of his earlier contributions reflected truly original observations when modern cardiology was in its infancy. Some of these have stood the test of time and have been 'rediscovered' years later with the development of more sophisticated techniques.