Alexis Daniel Thomas, veterinary surgeon, was the son of Alexis Thomas and Elise Sophie Henchoz. He emigrated to South Africa as a small boy with his parents and grew up on a farm in the northern Transvaal (now Limpopo). After World War I (1914-1918) he was employed as a temporary stockman at Armoedsvlakte, near Vryburg, shortly after its inauguration as a research centre. Here he soon became a laboratory assistant to Sir Arnold Theiler*. He served in this capacity also at Allerton (near Pietermaritzburg) and Onderstepoort. In 1922 he matriculated through private study before starting his veterinary studies, qualifying (BVSc) at the University of Pretoria in 1926 while continuing to work at the same time. He was then appointed to the research staff at Onderstepoort, also lecturing in pathology in the Veterinary Faculty. In 1928 he contributed three papers to the South African Journal of Science, dealing with "Several cases of so-called bent-leg in sheep", "Gross cysticercus invasion of the liver in lambs (Hepatitus cysticercosa)", and " Emphysema of the rumen in a sheep".

Thomas was awarded the DVSc degree by the University of South Africa in 1929 with a thesis on Skin cancer in the Angora goat in South Africa and was promoted to professor of pathology, a position he retained until his resignation in 1946 to start a practice in Pretoria. From 1929 to 1936 he was the editor of the Journal of the South African Veterinary Association. He published some 30 articles on a variety of pathological subjects, ranging from nutritional deficiencies to infectious diseases such as rabies and bluetongue. In 1955 he sold his practice and rejoined the Division of Veterinary Services in order to establish a Veterinary Investigation Centre in Louis Trichardt. Here he was the first to discover (with W.O.Neitz*) brown tick toxicosis in cattle. After retiring in 1965 he settled on a farm in the same district, later (1980) moving to George where he remained until his death.In December 1929 he married Dulcie Gertrude Taffray.

List of sources:

Author and Subject Index to the Government Veterinary Reports of the Transvaal and Union of South Africa, (1903-1932). Pretoria: Department of Agriculture, June 1937.

Author and Subject Index to the Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Science and Animal Industry (1933-1950) and the Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research (1951-1968). Pretoria: Department of Agriculture, June 1969.

Bigalke, R.D. Class of 1926: Graduates excel in various fields. OP News, 2004, Vol. 4(1), pp. 6-7.

Bigalke, R.D. The fourteen editors of the Journal of the South African Veterinary Association. Retrieved on 18 January 2021 from http://vethistorysa.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Art-11-Editors.pdf

FamilySearch: Alexis Daniel Thomas. https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/LRXY-W41/alexis-daniel-thomas-1899

Google scholar. http://scholar.google.co.za/ , publications by A.D. Thomas.

Posthumus, P.J. Past veterinarians in South Africa (10th edition), Vol. 2, [1992].

South African Journal of Science, 1928, Vol. 25, papers by Thomas.

Compiled by: D.W. Verwoerd

Last updated: 2026-01-14 11:22:39