Alexander Jeremiah Orenstein was born in
Odessa,
Kherson Governorate,
Russian Empire in 1879 to Joseph Orenstein and his wife Mary (née Jarkowsky). He became a naturalized US citizen in 1905, and two years later he married Marie G. Sabsevich in New York. In the years 190512 Orenstein worked with
General Gorgas in the
Panama Canal Zone, where he assisted in the eradication of
malaria and
yellow fever during the building of the
Panama Canal. In 1913 he was invited by Gorgas to work in
German East Africa, and the next year, also with Gorgas, he worked in
Johannesburg for
Rand Mines Ltd. to reduce the high incidence of pneumonia and tuberculosis among miners. He lived in a house near the
University of the Witwatersrand now known as the
Villa d'Este. He remained in
South Africa until his death. During both world wars Orenstein was director general of medical services in the South African defence forces, becoming first a Brigadier, then a Major General. ==AJ Orenstein Memorial Lectures==