Google honoured Sir Ludwig Guttmann, who founded the Paralympic movement, with a Doodle on his 122nd birth anniversary on Saturday. The illustration was made by Baltimore-based guest artist Ashanti Fortson.
The doodle “celebrates the 122nd birthday of Jewish, German-born British neurologist Professor Sir Ludwig “Poppa” Guttmann, founder of the Paralympic movement,” the Google Doodle website said.
Ludwig Guttmann aka ‘Poppa’ was born in a place called Tost (now Toszek in Poland) on July 3 1899. He went on to become a renowned neurologist whose research on spinal cord injuries and neurosurgical work procedures made him one of the most prolific neurologists in Germany.
However, being Jewish in Germany during the rise of Nazism was more of a curse. In 1933, he was not permitted to practice medicine in the country. With his own life at stake, he managed to escape the country and found safe haven in England in 1939.
There, he did more research work, especially in a condition called paraplegia. In 1948, he organized an archery contest for wheelchair users that became the brainchild of what is now known as the ‘Paralympic Games’. Back then, it was known as the ‘Stoke Mandeville Games’ which was named after the hospital he was working in.
Sir Guttmann even declared the first-ever international Paralympic Games open in 1960.
With global attention, Stoke Mandeville Games went international in 1960 and saw participation of about 400 athletes with disabilities from across the world.
Guttmann was knighted by Britain’s Queen in 1966. He died on March 18, 1980.
