David August Rosenthal

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Title page of the 2nd volume of the convertite pictures from the nineteenth century
Title page of the botanical work Synopsis plantarum diaphoricarum

David August Rosenthal (born April 16, 1821 in Neisse , Silesia ; † March 29, 1875 , in Breslau ) was a German doctor , publicist, writer and Jewish convert to the Catholic faith.

Live and act

Rosenthal was of Jewish faith and studied medicine at the University of Breslau , where he also received his doctorate in 1845. He then officiated as a general practitioner in Kempen , from 1846 to 1850 in Landsberg in Upper Silesia and finally Ohlau . In his Landsberg time he experienced an epidemic of dysentery , about which he later wrote a treatise.

In 1851 he and his family converted to the Catholic faith. From 1855 David August Rosenthal worked as a doctor in Breslau, where he also held the office of a city doctor for the poor with great commitment. For the last twelve years of his life he suffered from a serious breast disease, from which he died at the age of almost 54.

Author and publicist

In addition to his medical work, Rosenthal had a variety of other interests, especially in the literary and religious fields.

What makes him significant to this day is his extensive collection of data and reports on contemporaries who - like him - also converted to the Catholic faith. He published the painstakingly researched material between 1865 and 1870 in 5 volumes, entitled Convertitenbilder aus dem Nineteenth Century . Today they are a sought-after source for the biography of many personalities, especially in Germany, Austria, France, England, Russia and the United States.

In addition, Rosenthal dealt in detail with his compatriot and professional colleague Angelus Silesius (1624–1677), who was also a convert. In 1862 he published his poetic works in two volumes and dedicated them to the Prince-Bishop of Breslau, Heinrich Förster .

David August Rosenthal also researched botany and, in addition to articles in specialist journals, published the two-volume work Synopsis plantarum diaphoricarum , a systematic overview of medicinal, useful and poisonous plants in all countries.

Rosenthal regularly published medical articles from his practice in the quarterly journal for judicial and public medicine , which appeared in Berlin.

The doctor was friends with the historian Wilhelm Junkmann in Breslau ; he was in correspondence with the poet Christoph Bernhard Schlueter.

Publications

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Annual report of the Silesian Society for Patriotic Culture 53, 1876, p. 114 ( digitized version ).
  2. David August Rosenthal: About the dysentery epidemic 1847/1848 in the Rosenberger district . In: Journal of Clinical Medicine , Breslau, 1851, p. 348 .
  3. On the creation of Rosenthal's convertite pictures, in Josefine Nettesheim: Christoph Bernhard Schlüter. Eine Gestalt des German Biedermeier , 1960, p. 150; Excerpt from the source
  4. ^ Contemporary review of Rosenthal's "Convertitenbildern", in: Literarisches Handweiser für das Katholisches Deutschland , 1866
  5. ^ First volume of the works of Angelus Silesius
  6. ^ Second volume of the works of Angelus Silesius
  7. ^ Contemporary review of the work "Synopsis plantarum diaphoricarum" in the journal Archiv der Pharmazie , year 1863
  8. Rosenthal's article on the toxicity of blue starch, in the quarterly journal for judicial and public medicine, 1853
  9. ^ About the friendship with Wilhelm Junkmann and Christoph Bernhard Schlueter: Josefine Nettesheim: Christoph Bernhard Schlueter. A figure of the German Biedermeier . 1960, p. 150 ( Google Books ).