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A statue of Willem Kolff at the Engelenbergplantsoen/Hendrik van Viandenstraat in Kampen Photo sourced from

Top 10 Intriguing Facts about Willem Johan Kolff

Willem Johan Kolff was a pioneer of hemodialysis, artificial heart, as well as in the entire field of artificial organs. Willem was a member of the Kolff family, an old Dutch patrician family. He made his major discoveries in the field of dialysis for kidney failure during the Second World War.

He emigrated in 1950 to the United States, where he obtained US citizenship in 1955, and received a number of awards and widespread recognition for his work.Let’s take a look at some of the most intriguing facts about him;

1.He was Born in Leiden, Netherlands, on February 14, 1911 as the eldest of 5 boys

Born on 14th February 1911 in Leiden, Netherlands, Kolff was the eldest of a family of 5 boys. Kolff studied medicine in his hometown at Leiden University, and continued as a resident in internal medicine at Groningen University. One of his first patients was a 22-year-old man who was slowly dying of chronic kidney failure.

This prompted Kolff to perform research on artificial renal function replacement. Also during his residency, Kolff organized the first blood bank in Europe (in 1940). Kolff’s first prototype dialyzer was developed in 1943, built from orange juice cans, used auto parts, and sausage casings. 

2.His father was also a medical doctor

Willem Kolff was born in the Netherlands on February 14, 1911. His father, Jacob Kolff, was a medical doctor and the director of a tuberculosis sanatorium in the town of Beekbergen, the Netherlands.Following in his father’s footsteps Willem decided on a medical career.

He studied medicine at the University of Leiden and graduated with his medical degree in 1938.In 1976 Kolff became a corresponding member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. 

3.He organized the first blood bank in Europe in 1940

He performed research on artificial renal function replacement. Also during his residency here, Kolff organized the first blood bank in Europe (in 1940). Kolff’s first prototype dialyzer was developed in 1943, built from orange juice cans, used auto parts, and sausage casings.

Over a two-year span, Kolff had attempted to treat 15 people with his machine, but all had died. In 1945, Kolff successfully treated his first patient, a 67-year-old woman, from kidney failure using his hemodialysis machine.

4.He was active in the resistance against the German occupation

During World War II, he was in Kampen, where he was active in the resistance against the German occupation. Simultaneously, Kolff developed the first functioning artificial kidney. He treated his first patient in 1943, and in 1945 he was able to save a patient’s life with hemodialysis treatment.

In 1946 he obtained a PhD degree summa cum laude at University of Groningen on the subject. It marks the start of a treatment that has saved the lives of millions of acute kidney injury or chronic kidney failure patients ever since. 

5.He donated his artificial kidneys to other hospitals spread familiarity with the technology

Museum Boerhaave Kolff’s Artificial Kidney Photo by Rob Koopman

When the war ended, Kolff donated his artificial kidneys to other hospitals to spread familiarity with the technology. In Europe, Kolff sent machines to London, Amsterdam, and Poland. Another machine sent to Dr. Isidore Snapper at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City was used to perform the first human dialysis in the United States on January 26, 1948 under the supervision of Drs. Alfred P. Fishman and Irving Kroop.

In 1950, Kolff left the Netherlands to seek opportunities in the US. At the Cleveland Clinic, he was involved in the development of heart-lung machines to maintain heart and pulmonary function during cardiac surgery. He also improved on his dialysis machine.

6.He developed the first production artificial kidney

Artificial kidney (Kolff type) in operation Photo sourced from

At Brigham and Women’s Hospital, with funding from New York real estate developer David Rose, he developed the first production artificial kidney, the Kolff Brigham Artificial Kidney, manufactured by the Edward A. Olson Co. in Boston Massachusetts, and later the Travenol Twin-Coil Artificial Kidney.

He became head of the University of Utah’s Division of Artificial Organs and Institute for Biomedical Engineering in 1967, where he was involved in the development of the artificial heart, the first of which was implanted in 1982 in patient Barney Clark, who survived for four months, with the heart still functioning at the time of Clark’s death. 

7.He received numerous awards in his life

Kolff is considered to be the Father of Artificial Organs, and is regarded as one of the most important physicians of the 20th century.He obtained more than 12 honorary doctorates at universities all over the world, and more than 120 international awards.

Among them the Cameron Prize for Therapeutics of the University of Edinburgh in 1964, the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement in 1971, the Harvey Prize in 1972, AMA Scientific Achievement Award in 1982, the Japan Prize in 1986, the Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research in 2002 the Russ Prize in 2003.

8.He has been honored by several people even in his death 

In 1990 Life Magazine included him in its list of the 100 Most Important Persons of the 20th Century. He was a co-nominee with William H. Dobelle for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2003.

Robert Jarvik, who worked in Kolff’s laboratory at the University of Utah beginning in 1971, credited Kolff with inspiring him to develop the first permanent artificial heart. Theodor Kolobow, the inventor of the silicone spiral coil membrane lung and pioneer of artificial organ development, was inspired by Kolff.

9.He was inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame in 1985, and in 1990

A statue of Willem Kolff at the Engelenbergplantsoen/Hendrik van Viandenstraat in Kampen Photo sourced from

He was inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame in 1985, and in 1990, Life magazine named him one of the most important Americans of the 20th century. He published numerous books and more than six hundred articles. He was also active in social issues such as abortion rights and nuclear weapon protests, and was always interested in nature and art.

Starting in 1989, the Special Collections Department of the J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah, was honored to be chosen as the repository for Dr. Kolff’s extensive archives, which document his life and career. These include photographs, files, film, and his many books and articles. These files are available for research by the public by contacting the Special Collections Department at (801) 581-8863.

10.He died aged 97 on Feb 11th , 2009, in Newton Square, PA, USA

Dr. Kolff married Janke Huidekoper in 1938. The couple were blessed with six children. Dr. Kolff passed away in 2009 close to his 98th birthday. He had lived a long and productive life. He died on Feb 11, 2009, in Newton Square, PA, USA, aged 97 years.

He won pretty well everything else including, in 2002, a Lasker Award and he is survived by four sons and a daughter.He is one of most recognized people for his invention and contribution to the world at large.