Character City

Patience

Discussed by Human Resource Mgt. Office/Personnel, October 13, 2003

Hideyo Noguchi (1876-1928)

Hero of Character

After falling into a fire at the age of three, Hideyo's hand was left completely useless. As he grew older, he realized that because of his handicap he could never be a successful farmer, the only occupation for a poor Japanese boy at that time.

He threw himself into his studies, working two jobs to pay for his schooling. Although he was mocked by his classmates because of his deformed hand, he still assisted them with their studies after he finished his own. When a skillful doctor performed a successful operation on his hand, Hideyo as so impressed that he decided to become a doctor.

The patience he developed as a result of his handicap, and the lessons he learned in his youth about working through difficulties, helped him to become an expert on the prevention of many diseases that ravaged the world, such as tetanus, trachoma, and bubonic plague. He died during an epidemic of yellow fever in Africa while working toward finding a cure for it.

Character Traits