Professor Friedrich Daniel von Recklinghausen | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | December 2, 1833 |
| Died | August 26, 1910(1910-08-26) (aged 76) |
| Alma mater | Humboldt University of Berlin |
| Known for | Iron overloadNeurofibromatosis type I |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Pathology |
| Institutions | University of Strasbourg |
| Doctoral advisor | Rudolf Virchow |
| Notable students | |
Friedrich Daniel von Recklinghausen (German:[ˈʁɛklɪŋhaʊzən]; December 2, 1833 – August 26, 1910) was a Germanpathologist born inGütersloh,Westphalia. He was the father ofphysiologistHeinrich von Recklinghausen (1867–1942).
Recklinghausen was born in Gütersloh, Germany, in 1833.[1] He was the son of Friedrich Christoph von Recklinghausen and Friederike Charlotte Zumwinkel. His father was an elementary school teacher and a sexton. His mother died shortly after his birth in 1833. The Recklinghausens were a patrician family who put multiple councilors and mayors in their positions. He went to the elementary school where his father taught in Gütersloh. He then attended high school at Ratsgymnasium,Bielefeld.
Starting in 1852, Recklinghausen studied medicine at the Universities ofBonn,Würzburg, andBerlin,[2] earning his doctorate at the latter institution in 1855.[1] Afterwards he studiedpathological anatomy underRudolf Virchow, the father of modern pathology, and obtained his doctorate with Virchow as his advisor. He subsequently undertook an educational journey toVienna,Rome, andParis. From 1858 to 1864, Recklinghausen was an assistant at the Pathological Institute in Berlin. In 1864 he became the Professor of Pathological Anatomy at Königsberg before moving to Würzburg six months later. He remained a professor at Würzburg until 1872, when he was appointed Professor of General Pathology and Pathological Anatomy at Strasbourg until 1906.[3] Henceforth, he remained as a professor emeritus, continuing to teach and conduct research until his death in 1910.
At the age of 32 years old, Recklinghausen was already a Professor of Pathological Anatomy; ahabilitation was unnecessary because of his academic and scientific background. In 1865, he was selected as the Chair of Pathological Anatomy at theAlbertus University of Königsberg. The theme of his inaugural address was "De corporibus liberis articulorum" ("On the loose bodies of the joints"). In his short time at Königsberg he met his future wife Marie Jacobson (1846–1918), the daughter of the Jewish doctor Jacob Jacobson fromBraunsberg in East Prussia. In 1867, the first of his five children was born. His sonHeinrich Jacob von Recklinghausen later acquired a name for himself as a doctor, blood pressure researcher, and philosopher.
On April 20, 1872, Recklinghausen moved to the re-established Strasbourg,Kaiser Wilhelm University in the imperial country ofAlsace-Lorraine. Throughout Recklinghausen's time at the university he held multiple titles including Dean of the Medical Faculty in 1875/76 and in 1897, as well as rector of the university for the academic year 1883/84. In his Rectorate speech, he dealt with the medical teaching:About the historical development of medical education, its preconditions and its task.[4] During his time at Strasbourg he helped to recruit a number of important people to the school, such as anatomistWilhelm von Waldeyer-Hartz (1836–1921). Additionally Recklinghausen was one of the founders of the German Society for Pathology in 1884. After his retirement in 1906, he was still working on a comprehensive monograph on therickets andosteomalacia, which was completed in the year of his death. He is buried next to his wife at the Saint Louis cemetery in Robertsau. The tombstone bears the inscription:
PROFESSOR OF PATHOLOGICAL ANATOMY, AS RESEARCHER AS WELL AS TEACHER PROVEN, ESTABLISHED AND OBLIGATORY – A WHOLE MAN
In 1855 Recklinghausen wrote his inaugural thesisDe pyaemiae theoriis, concerning differing theories onpyaemia.[3]
In 1882 he released a monograph that reviewed previous literature done byRobert William Smith 33 years prior, added two new cases, and characterized thetumors ofneurofibromatosis type I or NF-1 asneurofibromas, consisting of an intense commingling ofnerve cells and fibrous tissue.[5] NF-1 is sometimes referred to as "von Recklinghausen syndrome".
He gave an account ofspina bifida in 1886, improving upon the work of Fulpius from 1641.[1]
In 1889 he coined the term "haemochromatosis", and was the first to provide the link between haemochromatosis and iron accumulation in body tissue. Recklinghausen published his findings in a treatise titledHämochromatose (1889).
While Gerhard Engel first described the skeletal disorderOsteitis fibrosa cystica, in 1891 Recklinghausen was the first to describe it systematically, and the condition became known as "von Recklinghausen's disease".[6][7]
He is credited with establishing a method for staining lines ofcell junctions withsilver, a procedure that led toJulius Friedrich Cohnheim's research onleukocyte migration and inflammation. In a monograph published posthumously in 1910, he coined the termoncosis (derived fromónkos 'swelling'). This term is sometimes used to describeischemic cell death.[8] In addition, he is credited with performing important studies on theheart andcirculation.
