Mila Rechcigl

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Miloslav Rechcigl
Miloslav Rechcigl.jpg
Mila Rechcigl
Born30 July 1930 (1930-07-30) (age 95)
Mladá Boleslav, Czechoslovakia
Education Cornell University
Occupation(s) biochemist, nutritionist, cancer researcher, writer, editor, historian, bibliographer, genealogist
SpouseEva Rechcigl
ChildrenJack Rechcigl
Karen Rechcigl
Parent Miloslav Rechcigl, Sr.

Miloslav Rechcigl is a Czech-American biochemist, nutritionist, cancer researcher, writer, editor, historian, bibliographer, and genealogist. He was one of the founders of the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences and served as its long-time president.

Contents

Biography

Rechcigl was born on 30 July 1930 in Mladá Boleslav, Czechoslovakia. [1] His father, Miloslav Rechcigl, Sr., was a politician in the pre-World War II Czechoslovakia, serving as the youngest member of the Czechoslovak Parliament and as a president of the Millers Association of Bohemia and Moravia. [2] After the communist takeover, Rechcigl left the country and immigrated to the United States in 1950, becoming a naturalized citizen in 1955. [3] He studied at Cornell University from 1951 to 1958, earning B.S., M.N.S., and PhD degrees, with a focus on biochemistry, nutrition, physiology and food science. [4]

He spent two years conducting research at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow. Subsequently, he was appointed as research biochemist to the staff of the Laboratory of Biochemistry at the National Cancer Institute. [5] During 1968–1969 he participated in a one-year USPHS executive training program in health administration, research management, grants administration, and science policy. [6] [7] [ full citation needed ]

He was subsequently appointed Special Assistant for Nutrition and Health in the Health Services and Mental Health Administration. [8] In 1970, he joined the U.S. Agency for International Development, then part of the U.S. Department of State, as a nutrition advisor and later became responsible for managing its research program. [9] [10]

Research activities

In his research, [11] [12] [13] [ irrelevant citation ] he initially specialized in amino acid metabolism, including the utilization of D-amino acids and non-specific forms of nitrogen. He later studied the relationship between protein and vitamin A, which led to the finding that the amount, as well as the biological value, of dietary protein is necessary for the efficient conversion of carotene to vitamin A. Other studies of his dealt with metabolic changes during cachexia of tumor-bearing animals. One of the most notable effects of the tumor on the host was the depression of enzyme catalase in the livers and in the kidneys, which some investigators thought was due to a hypothetical substance, referred to as toxohormone. This hypothesis was disproved by finding significant levels of the enzyme in liver tumors.

A number of his studies dealt with the question of enzyme turnover in vivo . Using specific metabolic inhibitors, he evaluated relative rates of synthesis and degradation of the enzyme catalase under a variety of physiological, pathological, and pharmacological conditions. These studies led to the conclusion that the rate of synthesis, rather than the rate of destruction, may be the preferential way the mammalian organism controls its enzyme levels.

His finding of significantly different levels of catalase activity in certain substrains of mice, which were under genetic control, provided a helpful model for pursuing fundamental research in biochemical genetics in the mammalian system. The analyses of the first, second, and backcross generations between high-enzyme and low-enzyme mouse substrains showed that the difference was due to a single autosomal gene pair with low dominance to high. Using specific metabolic inhibitors, it was subsequently found that the genetic difference between the two substrains lies primarily in the markedly increased rate of the enzyme destruction in the liver of one of the substrains. This was a unique finding since, in all normal rats and mice studied previously, the rates of enzyme destruction seemed to be almost constant. Although transient alteration in the rate of enzyme degradation has been observed under certain physiological conditions with other enzyme systems, the observation on catalase was believed to be the first demonstration of such a regulatory mechanism under genetic control.

Other studies dealt with the morphology, biochemistry and physiology of microbodies, on which he collaborated with Prof. Z. Hruban of the University of Chicago, which led to the monograph Microbodies and Related Particles (1969).

Scientific publications

Monographs

Handbooks

Czech-American activism

Apart from his purely scientific endeavors as a researcher and science administrator, Dr. Rechcigl spent nearly 50 years working with the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences (SVU), an international organization, with headquarters in Washington, D. C. [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [ excessive citations ] He was responsible for the first two of the Society's World Congresses. He also edited the Congress lectures and arranged for their publication, under the titles "The Czechoslovak Contribution to World Culture" and "Czechoslovakia Past and Present". [22] [23]

Dr. Rechcigl was also involved with most of the subsequent SVU World Congresses, including the recent[ when? ] SVU congresses in Prague, Brno, Bratislava, Washington, D.C., Plzeň, Olomouc and České Budějovice. Prior to his last term as the SVU President (2004–06), [24] he held similar posts during 1974–1976, 1976–1978, and again in 1994–1096, 1996–1998, 1998–2000, 2000–2002 and 2002–2004. [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [ excessive citations ]

In 1999, in conjunction with President Václav Havel's visit to Minnesota, he organized a conference at the University of Minnesota on "Czech and Slovak America: Quo Vadis?"[ citation needed ]

Together with his wife Eva, he published eight editions of the SVU Biographical Directory, the last of which was printed in Prague in 2003. [31] He gave significant assistance to launching a new English periodical Kosmas. Czechoslovak and Central European Journal. He also proposed the establishment of the SVU Research Institute and the creation of the SVU Commission for Cooperation with Czechoslovakia and its successor states, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, which played a role in the first years after the Velvet Revolution of 1989. [32] [33] Under the sponsorship of the SVU Research Institute and together with his colleagues, he conducted a series of workshops about research management and the art of "grantsmanship" for scientists and scholars, as well as for the administrators and science policy makers, at Czech and Slovak universities, the Academies of Sciences (Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Slovak Academy of Sciences) and the Government. [34]

He established the National Heritage Commission with the aim of preserving Czech and Slovak cultural heritage in America. [35] Under its support, he had undertaken a comprehensive survey of Czech-related historic sites and archival materials in the US. [36] Based on this survey, he has prepared a detailed listing, Czech-American Historic Sites, Monuments, and Memorials, which was published through the courtesy of Palacký University of Olomouc (2004). [37] The second part of the survey, bearing the title Czechoslovak American Archivalia, [38] was also published by Palacky University (2004). [39]

Dr. Rechcigl has studied the history, genealogy, and bibliography of Czech Americans and Slovak Americans. [40] A number of his publications deal with the early immigrants from the Czech lands and Slovakia, including the immigration of Moravian Brethren to America. In the last few years,[ when? ] he has been working on the cultural contributions of Czech Americans and Slovak Americans. [41] A selection of his biographical portraits of prominent Czech Americans from the 17th century to date has been published in Prague, under the title Postavy nasí Ameriky (Personalities of our America). [42] On the occasion of his 75th birthday, the Society published a collection of his essays, under the title Czechs and Slovaks in America [ permanent dead link ], as a part of the East European Monographs series, distributed by the Columbia University Press. [43]

Recognition

Dr. Rechcigl is a member of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, member of the Scientific Research Society of the Sigma Xi, member of the Cosmos Club, Honorary Member of the International Honor Society of Delta Tau Kappa and Honorary Member of the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences. He was also elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Fellow of the Washington Academy of Sciences and Fellow of the American Institute of Chemists (AIC) and Fellow of the International College of Applied Nutrition.[ citation needed ]

In 1991, the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences awarded him the Hlavka Memorial Medal on the occasion of its 100th anniversary. [44] In 1997 he received a prize "Gratias agit" from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. [45] In 1999, on the occasion of President Václav Havel's visit to the US, Havel presented him the Presidential Memorial Medal on behalf of SVU. [46] More recently[ when? ], he was given an honorary title Nebraska Admiral ("Admiral of the Great Navy of the State of Nebraska") by the Governor of Nebraska Mike Johanns along with the key to the capital of Nebraska by the Mayor of Lincoln, Nebraska. Additionally, the SVU Prague Chapter awarded him the 2002 Prague SVU Award. In 2005, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, Cyril Svoboda honored him by awarding him the Jan Masaryk Medal [47] for his contributions in preserving and fostering relations between the Czech Republic and the United States. In 2006 he received the Comenius Award from the Czech Center Museum Houston.[ citation needed ]

Personal life

Mila Rechcigl lives with his wife, Eva, in Washington, D.C. area. They have two children, Jack and Karen, who live in Florida. Jack Rechcigl is a professor of soil and water sciences at the University of Florida and director of Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in Wimauma.[ citation needed ]

References

  1. ↑ Mladoboleslavsko v proměnách času (Prague & Mladá Boleslav: Nakladatelství Libri & Okresní muzeum, 1997
  2. ↑ Ottův slovník naučný nové doby. Prague: "Novina", 1938, vol. V. 1, p. 496
  3. ↑ "A 'B' for Behavior for the Miller's Son", Welcome to the Heart of Europe, vol. 2, No. 1 (1995), p. 38.
  4. ↑ "Miloslav Rechcigl, Jr. | Society of Arts & Sciences". 2007-04-08. Retrieved 2025-11-16.
  5. ↑ Who's Who in Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 1962-.
  6. ↑ NIH Record, June 11, 1968, p. 7
  7. ↑ DRG Personal Items (National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD), No. 5 (May 1968), p. 2.
  8. ↑ ."Appointment of Dr. Miloslav Rechcigl. Jr. as Special Assistant for Nutrition and Health", Regional Medical Programs Service News Information Data 4, No.1 (January 7, 1970), pp. 1-4
  9. ↑ The Biographical Register, US Department of State, July 1974, p. 282
  10. ↑ Dictionary of International Biography, 1969–
  11. ↑ American Men and Women of Science, 1960–
  12. ↑ World Who's Who in Science. From Antiquity to the Present. Chicago, Illinois: Marquis-Who's Who, 1968, p.1401
  13. ↑ Leaders in American Science, Hattiesburg, MS, 1968–69
  14. ↑ Jaroslav Němec, "Important Anniversary of SVU Officer", Československý týdeník (New York), August 2, 1990
  15. ↑ "Miloslav Rechcigl, Jr.", SVU Bulletin 11, No. 3 (August 1990), p.17
  16. ↑ Jan Tríska, "Dr. Miloslav Rechcigl, Jr. The Man for All Seasons", News SVU 37, No. 4 (July–August 1995), pp. 7–8
  17. ↑ Informacní Bulletin CSUZ 0998, September 30, 1998, pp. 7–8
  18. ↑ Zdenek Slouka, "Rechcigl -Septuagenarian", Americké Listy 2000, p. 4
  19. ↑ "Profile: Miloslav Rechcigl", Czech the News, vol. 9, No. 8 (September 2000), p. 9
  20. ↑ Československý biografický slovník (Prague: Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, 1992), p. 589
  21. ↑ Josef Tomeš et al., Český biografický slovník XX. století (Prague: Paseka, Petr Meissner, 1999), vol. 3, pp. 27-28
  22. ↑ The Hague - London - Paris: Mouton & Co., 1964. 682 p.
  23. ↑ The Hague - Paris: Mouton, 1968. 2 vols., 1889 p.
  24. ↑ SVU News, vol. 46, No. 5 (September-Oct. 2004), pp. 1-2.
  25. ↑ "Miloslav Rechcigl -New SVU President", News SVU, vol. 16, No. 4 (Nov. 1974), pp. 1-2
  26. ↑ "SVU Elects New President", SVU Bulletin, vol. 25, No. 4 (Nov. 1994), pp. 1-3
  27. ↑ "SVU Inducts New President", News SVU, vol. 38, No. 6 (Nov.-Dec. 1996), pp. 1-3
  28. ↑ "Rechcigl again at the Helm of SVU", News SVU, vol. 40, No. 6 (Nov.-Dec. 1998), pp. 1-3
  29. ↑ "Rechcigl Reelected SVU President to Unprecedented 6th Term", News SVU, vol. 42, No.6 (Nov.-Dec., 2000), pp. 1-3
  30. ↑ SVU News, vol. 44, No. 6 (Nov.-Dec. 2002), pp. 1-4
  31. ↑ SVU Directory 2003. Washington, D.C.: SVU Press, 2003. 368 p.
  32. ↑ "From the SVU Research Institute", SVU Bulletin vol. 13, No. 3 (August 1992), p. 5
  33. ↑ "News from the SVU Commission for Cooperation with Czechoslovakia", SVU Bulletin, vol. 11, No. 3 (August 1990), pp.6-7
  34. ↑ Interim Report. Workshops on US Practice in Research Management. Prague: SVU Research Institute, December 1991
  35. ↑ "SVU New Initiative", News SVU, vol. 40, No. 1 (January–February 1998), pp. 7–8; "Preserving Czech and Slovak American Archival Material", Kosmas 17, No. 2 (Spring 2004), pp.95–96.
  36. ↑ Survey of Czech and Slovak Historical Monuments in America", News SVU 41, No. 6 (November–December 1999), 20–21
  37. ↑ Czech-American Historic Sites, Monuments, and Memorabilia (Olomouc-Ostrava: Centrum pro československá studia pri Katedre historie Filozofické fakulty Univerzity Palackého v Olomouci, 2004), 142 p.
  38. ↑ Czechoslovak American Archivalia", News SVU 43, No. 1 (January–February 2001), pp. 17-19
  39. ↑ Czechoslovak American Archivalia. Vol.1. Government Repositories, University-Based Collections, Collections Maintained by Public Museums and Libraries, Collections of Ethnic and Other Related Organizations (Olomouc-Ostrava: Centrum pro československá studia pri Katedře historie Filozofické fakulty Univerzity Palackého v Olomouci, 2004), 206 pp; Vol. 2. Personal Papers and Collections, Repositories Abroad Bearing on the Subject, Virtual Archives on the Internet, Appendixes. 368 p.
  40. ↑ Scholars of Bohemian, Czech and Czechoslovak History Studies. (Prague: Institute of History, 2005), Vol. 3, pp. 8-15
  41. ↑ See: "CZECHOSLOVAK AMERICA, Bibliography of Writings of Miloslav Rechcigl, Jr". Archived from the original on 2007-08-13. Retrieved 2008-02-03.
  42. ↑ Postavy nasí Ameriky. Prague: Prazská edice, 200. 355 p.
  43. ↑ Czechs and Slovaks in America. Boulder, CO and New York: Columbia University Press, 2005. 317 p.
  44. ↑ ."Agency Official Receives Czech Science Award", AID Front Lines, July 1991, p. 14
  45. ↑ Ceský Dialog, No. 8, 1998
  46. ↑ "In the Limelight of President Havel's Visit", News SVU, vol. 41, No. 4 (July–August 1999), pp. 1-3
  47. ↑ "Medal to SVU President - Mila Rechcigl", News SVU, vol. 48, No. 1 (January–February 2006), pp. 17-19
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