national origin

» crdb - Rudolph Virchow biography

The snippet of text google scoops up when showing the link to Virchow's biography in the Biography of Scientists identifies Virchow as a Polish-German, presumably because his town of birth, part of Germany's Pomerania, became Polish 125 years later. The biography itself also points out, when discussing Virchow's activities in Upper Silesia that this former part of Germany is now Polish. Why is that relevant?
Why is the national origin, however determined, relevant when discussing a scientist's accomplishments?

-- posted by crdb

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