Rudolf Virchow

Rudolf Virchow
Born(1821-10-13)13 October 1821
Schivelbein, Pomerania, Kingdom of Prussia, German Confederation
Died5 September 1902(1902-09-05) (aged 80)
Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Resting placeAlter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof, Schöneberg
52°17′N 13°13′E / 52.28°N 13.22°E / 52.28; 13.22
CitizenshipKingdom of Prussia
EducationFriedrich Wilhelm University (M.D., 1843)
Known forCell theory
Cellular pathology
Biogenesis
Virchow's triad
SpouseFerdinande Rosalie Mayer (a.k.a. Rose Virchow)
AwardsCopley Medal (1892)
Scientific career
FieldsMedicine
Anthropology
InstitutionsCharité
University of Würzburg
ThesisDe rheumate praesertim corneae (1843)
Doctoral advisorJohannes Peter Müller
Other academic advisorsRobert Froriep
Doctoral studentsFriedrich Daniel von Recklinghausen
Walther Kruse
Other notable studentsErnst Haeckel
Edwin Klebs
Franz Boas
Adolph Kussmaul
Max Westenhöfer
William Osler
Signature

Rudolf Ludwig Carl Virchow (/ˈvɪərkoʊ, ˈfɪərxoʊ/ VEER-koh, FEER-khoh,[1] German: [ˈʁuːdɔlf ˈvɪʁço, - ˈfɪʁço];[2][3] 13 October 1821 – 5 September 1902) was a German physician, anthropologist, pathologist, prehistorian, biologist, writer, editor, and politician. He is known as "the father of modern pathology" and as the founder of social medicine, and to his colleagues, the "Pope of medicine".[4][5][6]

Virchow studied medicine at the Friedrich Wilhelm University under Johannes Peter Müller. While working at the Charité hospital, his investigation of the 1847–1848 typhus epidemic in Upper Silesia laid the foundation for public health in Germany, and paved his political and social careers. From it, he coined a well known aphorism: "Medicine is a social science, and politics is nothing else but medicine on a large scale". His participation in the Revolution of 1848 led to his expulsion from Charité the next year. He then published a newspaper Die Medizinische Reform (The Medical Reform). He took the first Chair of Pathological Anatomy at the University of Würzburg in 1849. After seven years, in 1856, Charité reinstated him to its new Institute for Pathology. He co-founded the political party Deutsche Fortschrittspartei, and was elected to the Prussian House of Representatives and won a seat in the Reichstag. His opposition to Otto von Bismarck's financial policy resulted in duel challenge by the latter. However, Virchow supported Bismarck in his anti-Catholic campaigns, which he named Kulturkampf ("culture struggle").[7]

A prolific writer, he produced more than 2000 scientific writings.[8] Cellular Pathology (1858), regarded as the root of modern pathology, introduced the third dictum in cell theory: Omnis cellula e cellula ("All cells come from cells"),[9] although this concept is now widely recognized as being plagiarized from Robert Remak.[10] He was a co-founder of Physikalisch-Medizinische Gesellschaft in 1849 and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Pathologie in 1897. He founded journals such as Archiv für Pathologische Anatomie und Physiologie und für Klinische Medicin (with Benno Reinhardt in 1847, later renamed Virchows Archiv), and Zeitschrift für Ethnologie (Journal of Ethnology).[11] The latter is published by German Anthropological Association and the Berlin Society for Anthropology, Ethnology and Prehistory, the societies which he also founded.[12]

Virchow was the first to describe and name diseases such as leukemia, chordoma, ochronosis, embolism, and thrombosis. He coined biological terms such as "neuroglia", "agenesis", "parenchyma", "osteoid", "amyloid degeneration", and "spina bifida"; terms such as Virchow's node, Virchow–Robin spaces, Virchow–Seckel syndrome, and Virchow's triad are named after him. His description of the life cycle of a roundworm Trichinella spiralis influenced the practice of meat inspection. He developed the first systematic method of autopsy,[13] and introduced hair analysis in forensic investigation.[14] Opposing the germ theory of diseases, he rejected Ignaz Semmelweis's idea of disinfecting. He was critical of what he described as "Nordic mysticism" regarding the Aryan race.[15] As an anti-Darwinist, he called Charles Darwin an "ignoramus" and his own student Ernst Haeckel a "fool". He described the original specimen of Neanderthal man as nothing but that of a deformed human.[16]

  1. ^ "Virchow". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. Archived from the original on 26 August 2014 – via The Free Dictionary.
  2. ^ Ahlheim, Karl-Heinz; Preuß, Gisela (1981). Meyers Grosses Universal-Lexikon (in German). Mannheim: Bibliographisches Institut. ISBN 978-3-41-101841-3.
  3. ^ "Virchow". Duden (in German). Archived from the original on 21 September 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  4. ^ Silver, G A (1987). "Virchow, the heroic model in medicine: health policy by accolade". American Journal of Public Health. 77 (1): 82–88. doi:10.2105/AJPH.77.1.82. PMC 1646803. PMID 3538915.
  5. ^ Nordenström, Jörgen (2012). The Hunt for the Parathyroids. Chichester, West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons. p. 10. ISBN 978-1-118-34339-5.
  6. ^ Huisman, Frank; Warner, John Harley (2004). Locating Medical History: The Stories and Their Meanings. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 415. ISBN 978-0-8018-7861-9.
  7. ^ "Kulturkampf". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 29 April 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  8. ^ Buikstra, Jane E.; Roberts, Charlotte A. (2012). The Global History of Paleopathology: Pioneers and Prospects. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 388–390. ISBN 978-0-1953-8980-7.
  9. ^ Kuiper, Kathleen (2010). The Britannica Guide to Theories and Ideas That Changed the Modern World. New York: Britannica Educational Pub. in association with Rosen Educational Services. p. 28. ISBN 978-1-61530-029-7.
  10. ^ Hand, C. (2018). Cell Theory: the Structure and Function of Cells. New York: Cavendish Square.
  11. ^ Skoczylas, M; Pierzak-Sominka, J; Rudnicki, J (2013). "O formach aktywności dydaktycznej Rudolfa Virchowa w zakresie medycyny". Problems of Applied Sciences. 1: 197–200. Archived from the original on 20 February 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  12. ^ "Zeitschrift für Ethnologie". Archived from the original on 12 February 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  13. ^ "Rudolf Virchow". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 2 May 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  14. ^ Oien, Cary T (2009). "Forensic Hair Comparison: Background Information for Interpretation". Forensic Science Communications. 11 (2): Online. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  15. ^ Silberstein, Laurence J.; Cohn, Robert L. (1994). The Other in Jewish Thought and History: Constructions of Jewish Culture and Identity. New York: New York University Press. pp. 375–376. ISBN 978-0-8147-7990-3. Archived from the original on 9 October 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  16. ^ Glick, Thomas F. (1988). The Comparative reception of Darwinism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 86–87. ISBN 978-0-226-29977-8.