Widukind Lenz passed away on February 25,1995, as a victim of his medical profession — since at least 1967, he had suffered from chronic hepatitis. In 1989, he was operated for carcinoma of the liver. He died from cirrhosis.

Lenz was born on February 4, 1919. His father, Fritz Lenz, was the leading intellectual representative of what was called ‘eugenics’ in Anglo-Saxon countries and ‘racial hygiene’ in Germany. It must have been difficult to grow up as the son of such a ‘prophet’, but W. Lenz managed to achieve independence. He studied medicine and in 1942 wrote a doctoral thesis in pediatrics at the University of Greifswald, The Possible Influence of Nutrition on Accelerated Growth, a subject already receiving attention. Why are many of us taller than our parents and grandparents? Why are our children so much taller than us? The fact that, parallel to this phenomenon, the average age of puberty in girls had decreased by no less than 3–4 years, was a biological process whose psychological and social impact has not yet reached the general public. Many explanations were given. At first glance, genetic causes seemed to be most likely, as twin and family studies showed evidence for genetic determination. However, possible genetic mechanisms such as hybrid vigor or natural selection had not been thoroughly investigated and the same was true for environmental influences such as urbanization or increased exposure to sunlight.

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