Herman Snellen

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H. Snellen Sr.

Herman Snellen the Elder (born February 19, 1834 in Zeist / Utrecht Province , † January 18, 1908 in Utrecht ) was a Dutch ophthalmologist and inventor of optotypes .

Life

Herman was the son of the doctor Frans Adriaan Snellen (born April 17, 1802 in Rotterdam; † May 3, 1886 in Zeist) and his wife Agatha Petronella Messchert (born May 1, 1804 in Rotterdam; † March 21, 1865 in Zeist).

education

After attending the school in his hometown, he passed his university entrance exam on August 13, 1851 and enrolled on September 15, 1851 at the University of Utrecht for medicine. His formative teachers were mainly Gerardus Johannes Mulder , Jacobus Ludovicus Conradus Schroeder van der Kolk and Franciscus Cornelis Donders . On July 4, 1857 he received his doctorate with the thesis De invloed der zenuwen op de ontsteking. Proefondervindelijk getoetst (freely translated into German: the influence of nerves on inflammation, experimentally investigated) to doctor of medicine. He then worked as a doctor in Utrecht, where he particularly devoted himself to ophthalmology . On December 28, 1858, he also earned the degree of Doctor of Surgery.

Ooglijdersgasthuis

Ooglijdersgasthuis in Utrecht, circa 1904

In 1858, Snellen founded Donders, the first ophthalmic clinic in the Netherlands, the Nederlandsch Gasthuis voor befoeftigte en minvermogende ooglijders in Utrecht ( Ooglijdersgasthuis or Gasthuis voor Ooglijders ), where he worked as Donders' assistant. In 1862 he took over the operational management of Donders as the primary physician of the ophthalmological clinic and on October 27, 1884, he became its official successor as director of the facility. On November 17, 1877 he was appointed professor of ophthalmology at the University of Utrecht, which position he took over on December 15 of the same year. The title of the inaugural address was: De methode van het oogheelkundig clinical onderwijs . He participated in the organizational tasks of the University of Utrecht and was rector of the Alma Mater in 1891/92 . On April 12, 1899, he retired from his professorship. In the same year he organized an international congress for ophthalmology in Utrecht. Until 1904 he was still director of the Utrecht Eye Clinic. He published works on the influence of the vagus nerve on breathing , diseases of the gastric mucosa , enlargement of the large blood vessels and the role of the nerves in the process of inflammation . His favorite areas were the refraction and accommodation anomalies .

Scientific work

Particularly noteworthy are the works on iridesis, entropium suture (1862), neuroparalytic eye inflammation, the influence of pathological processes inside the skull (1865), the dissolution of the anterior synechiae (1866), the direction of the main meridians of the astigmatic eye (1873 ), the Stokes lens (1874), the cutting of the ciliary nerves in neuralgia (1871), in cooperation with Landolt: the functional tests of the eye in Graefe-Saemisch's collections (1874). Phakometer (1876), sympathetic ophthalmia (1881), eye hygiene in school (1883), glaucoma (1888 and 1890), skiascopy (1889), afterimages (1803), keraloconus (1897), on erythropsia (1896), on artificial eyes (1898), the eye surgery theory he started in the 2nd edition of the compilation manual of ophthalmology, 4th volume, directed by Karl Ferdinand Graefe and Theodor Sämisch, Leipzig 1902-04.

Eye test tables

Snellen is best known for the invention of the eye test tables ( Snellen index ). Visual acuity can be determined with the help of such tables . These visual samples have been published in several editions ( Optotypi ad visum determinandum. Utrecht 1862, German: Probebuchstaben zurosition der visual acuity.)

Glass eye

Together with the company F. Ad. Müller & Sons in Wiesbaden, he developed an easy-care, double-walled, removable glass eye , which was quickly recognized because of its low weight compared to other eye prostheses.

Honors

Snellen had received an honorary doctorate from the University of Greifswald and in 1898 from the University of Edinburgh . He was also an honorary member of the Académie de Médicine in Belgium and the Heidelberg German Ophthalmological Society (German Society for Ophthalmology). In 1895 he became a Knight of the Order of the Dutch Lion and an Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau .

family

Snellen was married twice. His first marriage was on September 8, 1859 in Utrecht with Mary Jane Brijan (* July 19, 1829 in Maidstone (Kent / England); † December 17, 1860 in Utrecht), the daughter of John Brijan (* around 1801; † October 27, 1874 in Achttienhoven) and Elisabeth Hickmott (also: Hukmott, Heckmoth, Wickmott; * around 1803; † May 14, 1853 in Utrecht). His second marriage was on June 12, 1862 in Utrecht, with the sister of his first wife Carlotte Braijn (born January 13, 1844 in Utrecht; * around 1803; † June 6, 1923 in Utrecht). Children come from marriages. We know of these:

  • Marij Elizabeth Snellen (born November 5, 1860 in Utrecht, † March 24, 1932 in Ermelo)
  • Charlotte Snellen (born May 15, 1863 in Utrecht, † January 19, 1923 in Amsterdam) married. June 6, 1889 in Utrecht Jaqcues Antoine Bonebakker (born September 7, 1862 in Amsterdam)
  • Herman Snellen the Younger (born November 24, 1864 in Utrecht; † 1929) Prof. Dr. mated August 9, 1900 in Utrecht Maria Magdalena Werker (born April 26, 1880 in Utrecht, † October 3, 1956 in Utrecht)
  • William Snellen (born May 25, 1866 in Utrecht, † October 11, 1928 in Bilthoven) Dr. med, ophthalmologist, married October 5, 1920 in Utrecht with Hendrika Petronella Repelius (born October 30, 1894 in Utrecht)
  • Rosa Snellen (born January 29, 1868 in Utrecht; † July 30, 1911 there)
  • Otto Snellen (born September 29, 1869 in Utrecht; † March 20, 1871 ibid)
  • Emma Snellen (born September 6, 1872 in Utrecht; † April 3, 1940 ibid)
  • Thomas Snellen (born May 15, 1873 in Utrecht; † March 27, 1946) married. August 18, 1904 in Utrecht with Merrigje de Kleijn, (* July 12, 1882 in Ameide; † 1974)
  • Margarita Snellen (born February 26, 1875 in Utrecht, † March 22, 1961 in The Hague) married. on November 8, 1896 in Utrecht with Henri Johan Eduard Wenckebach (born June 27, 1861 in The Hague; † February 21, 1924 in The Hague)
  • Clara Snellen (born February 6, 1877 in Utrecht)
  • Francisca Cornelia Snellen (born November 12, 1878 in Utrecht, † August 10, 1932 in Ermelo)
  • Robert Snellen (born November 28, 1880 in Utrecht, † Brussels)
  • Kate Snellen (born May 17, 1883 in Utrecht, † May 8, 1931 in Newhaven (USA)) married. October 12, 1911 in Utrecht with Johannes Gregorius Dusser de Barenne (born May 6, 1885 in glasses)

Works

  • Optotypi ad visum determinandum. Utrecht, 1862.
  • De neuro-paralytic oogontsteking, withered zich by trigeminal paralysis ontwikkelt. In: Nederlandsch Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde. Amsterdam, 1864
  • The divorce of the oogziekte in the Rijksgestichten Veenhuizen en Ommerschans. Verslagen Nederlandsche Geneeskunde voor ooglijders. 1864
  • Over the method of the oogheel knowledgeable kliniek. Inaugural speech, Universiteit van Utrecht, 1877.
  • The operational treatment of the Glaucoma and hair beteekenis. Utrecht, 1893
  • Subconjunctival Treatment of operative and traumatic wounds of cornea and sclerotic. 8th International ophthalmological Congress, Edinburgh, 1894

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Barbara I. Tshisuaka: Snellen, Herman. 2005, p. 1340.
personal data
SURNAME Snellen, Herman
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch ophthalmologist
DATE OF BIRTH February 19, 1834
PLACE OF BIRTH Zeist
DATE OF DEATH January 18, 1908
Place of death Utrecht