Leopold Lichtwitz

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Leopold Lichtwitz , often short Leo Lichtwitz (born December 9, 1876 in Ohlau , † March 16, 1943 in New Rochelle , NY ), was a German doctor for internal medicine . He was considered an authority on metabolism research . He emigrated to the United States in 1933 during the Nazi era because of his Jewish origins .

Life

Leopold Lichtwitz was born as the son of Kgl. District doctor Medical Councilor Dr. Jakob Lichtwitz was born in Ohlau in what was then Silesia . He attended grammar school in Ohlau up to the Matura exam in 1896. Then he studied medicine and chemistry at the universities of Breslau , Munich , Freiburg im Breisgau and Leipzig . In 1901 he received his doctorate . In his dissertation he dealt with the possibilities of influencing the absorption of fat in the small intestine with the help of mustard oil . In 1908 he completed his habilitation in medicine at the University of Göttingen .

Two years later, Lichtwitz took over the management of the polyclinic in Göttingen . In 1913 he was appointed associate professor in Göttingen. In 1916, Lichtwitz moved to the municipal hospital in Altona to head the internal department . In the following years he was promoted to director of this hospital. In 1931 he became director of the Rudolf Virchow Hospital in Berlin . In 1933 he was elected President of the German Society for Internal Medicine (DGIM). After the National Socialists came to power in early 1933, he was forced to resign from the chairmanship of the DGIM because of his Jewish origins and was discharged from the Virchow Hospital. Lichtwitz emigrated to the United States in the same year . His successor in the office of President of DGIM was Alfred Schittenhelm , who led DGIM into synchronization . The Montefiore Hospital in New York City appointed Lichtwitz to head its internal medicine department. He also received a professorship in clinical medicine at Columbia University .

The main focus of Lichtwitz's research was colloid chemistry and pathology . His work Pathology of Functions and Regulations , published in Leiden in 1936 , was included by the National Socialists on the so-called list of harmful and undesirable literature and was thus one of the banned books in Germany.

Leopold Lichtwitz Medal

The German Society for Internal Medicine (DGIM) honors outstanding doctors and researchers with the Leopold Lichtwitz Medal . To commemorate Lichtwitz "and in memory of thousands of doctors of Jewish descent who were ostracized, persecuted and killed during this time, the DGIM launched this medal in 2013."

Publications (selection)

  • Nephritis . Grune & Stratton, New York City (USA) 1942.
  • Pathology of functions and regulations . Sijthoff, Leiden (Netherlands) 1936.
  • Medical colloid theory. Physiology, pathology and therapy in terms of colloid chemistry . Verlag Theodor Steinkopff , Dresden 1935. (With: Raphael Eduard Liesegang , Karl Spiro )
  • The practice of kidney disease . 3rd edition, Julius Springer, Berlin 1934.
  • Clinical chemistry . 2nd edition, Julius Springer, Berlin 1930.

literature

  • Art. Lichtwitz, Leopold , in: Deutsche Biographische Enzyklopädie (DBE). Edited by Walther Killy and Rudolf Vierhaus . Among employees von Dietrich von Engelhardt ... Vol. 6: Kogel - Maxsein, Sauer, Munich 1997, p. 377. ISBN 3-598-23166-0 .
  • Arthur Jores : Leo Lichtwitz † (Obituary for Lichtwitz), in: Klinische Wochenschrift, December 15, 1946, Volume 24-25, Issue 11-12, p 192.
  • Ralf Forsbach / Hans-Georg Hofer, internists in dictatorship and young democracy. The German Society for Internal Medicine 1933-1970, Berlin 2018, p. 15 ff.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Science: Jews Without Jobs . Time , June 5, 1933, accessed June 24, 2010.
  2. ^ Chronicle of the Georg-August-Universität zu Göttingen for the accounting year 1908 . Georg-August-Universität Göttingen , Göttingen 1909, p. 10.
  3. ^ Boris Pawlowski: Academic Senate deprives Alfred Schittenhelm of honorary senator status. Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, press release from May 12, 2016 from Informationsdienst Wissenschaft (idw-online.de), accessed on May 12, 2016.
  4. ^ Evidence in electronic database for this list
  5. ↑ What is meant is the time of National Socialist rule in Germany.
  6. ↑ Information on the medal (accessed on March 25, 2014).
personal data
SURNAME Lichtwitz, Leopold
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lichtwitz, Leo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German doctor for internal medicine
DATE OF BIRTH December 9, 1876
PLACE OF BIRTH Ohlau
DATE OF DEATH March 16, 1943
Place of death New Rochelle , NY