Christian Gottlieb Selle

Christian Gottlieb Selle (after an engraving by Charles Townley)

Christian Gottlieb Selle (born October 7, 1748 in Stettin ; † November 9, 1800 in Berlin ) was a German physician and philosopher .

Life

The son of a blacksmith lost his father at an early age. At the age of six he came to Berlin, where his mother married the pharmacist Koehler. First he learned the pharmacy from his stepfather, then he studied medicine in Berlin, Göttingen and Halle , received his doctorate in 1770 with the thesis Methodi febrium naturalis rudimenta and has since practiced as a doctor in Berlin. In addition to his own medical works, he also published translations of English specialist literature. He accompanied Wilhelmina Luisa von Hessen-Darmstadt , the bride of Tsar Paul , to Saint Petersburg and on the return journey accepted a position as a doctor with the Bishop of Warmia . In 1777 he returned to Berlin.

Against the resistance of Christian Andreas Cothenius , he was employed as a doctor at the Charité . He put the practical experience he gained here in his work “Medicina Clinica”, which was published eight times between 1781 and 1801. His remarks on puerperal fever had a special meaning . After the death of his friend Muzel in 1785, he was able to obtain his position as personal physician of Frederick the Great . Later he also treated Friedrich Wilhelm II. And Friedrich Wilhelm III.

In 1786 he became a member of the Academy of Sciences . In 1795 he traveled to South Prussia , where he conducted an investigation into the high mortality rate in the province and the state of the hospitals there. He was appointed to the Royal Privy Council for this purpose , and in 1798 he finally became the second director of the " collegium medico-chirurgicum ".

Selle published several works in opposition to Kant . - He was a member of the Secret Berlin Wednesday Society .

In his first (1778–1792) and second marriage (1792–1798) he was married to the daughters of the anatomist Johann Friedrich Meckel . His third wife (⚭ 1798) survived Selle, who died of tuberculosis in 1800 .

Works (selection)

• Disease history of the most blessed King of Prussia, Frederick the Second Majesty. In addition to the regulations for the funeral ceremony . 1786
• Medicina Clinica. Or manual of medical practice. 1781
• Rudimenta pyretologiae methodicae. Berlin 1773; 2nd edition, ibid. 1787
• "Principles of Pure Philosophy". Berlin 1788
• Philosophical Conversations first and second part. Berlin 1780

literature

• Julius Pagel :  Selle, Christian Gottlieb . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 33, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1891, pp. 682-684.
• Giuseppe Motta: Evidence. The abolition of form in Ch. G. Selle's discussion of Kant. In: Philosophical Readings , III.3, 2011, pp. 73–77 ( online , PDF file).
• Werner E. Gerabek :  Selle, Christian Gottlieb. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 24, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-428-11205-0 , p. 223 f. ( Digitized version ).