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Johann Spurzheim | |
|---|---|
_-_H359_-_Harvard_Art_Museums.jpg) Johann Spurzheim byAlvan Fisher | |
| Born | 31 December 1776 |
| Died | 10 November 1832 (1832-11-11) (aged 55) Boston,Massachusetts, United States |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Phrenology |
Johann Gaspar Spurzheim (31 December 1776 – 10 November 1832) was a German physician who became one of the chief proponents ofphrenology, which was developed c. 1800 byFranz Joseph Gall (1758–1828).
Spurzheim was born nearTrier, Germany, on 31 December 1776 and studiedmedicine at theUniversity of Vienna. He became acquainted with Gall in 1800 and was soon hired by him as an assistant. Gall intended to have Spurzheim as his successor and added his name as a co-author to books and publications. In 1812, however, Gall and Spurzheim had a falling out, and Spurzheim started a separate career, lecturing and writing extensively on what he termed 'ThePhysiognomical System of Drs Gall and Spurzheim'. He greatly popularised phrenology, and travelled extensively throughout Europe, achieving considerable success in England and France.
In 1816 he travelled to Edinburgh to refute an article byDr John Gordon who had famously debunked Spurzheim, Gall and phrenology in general in an article in theEdinburgh Review in 1815.[1]
He died oftyphoid inBoston in 1832, cutting short his first and onlyAmerican tour. After the public autopsy of Spurzheim, hisbrain,skull, andheart were removed, preserved in jars of alcohol asrelics, and put on display to the public.[2] Adoring Bostonians staged an elaborate publicfuneral and erected a monument inMount Auburn Cemetery inCambridge, Massachusetts.[3]
Spurzheim made many alterations to Gall's phrenological system, including an increase in the number of "organs", as well as its organization into ahierarchical system. Spurzheim also used images and busts to illustrate the craniographic approach of phrenology.
