Viktor van der Reis

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Viktor van der Reis (born May 14, 1889 in Neuenhaus , † December 23, 1957 in São Paulo ) was a German physician who became known as a gastroenterologist . He is considered to be the pioneer of the gastrointestinal microecology of humans.

Life

The son of the Neuenhauser merchant Julius van der Reis and his wife Sophie, née Schönberg, began studying medicine at the University of Würzburg in 1909 after graduating from the Royal High School in Osnabrück . In October 1911 Viktor van der Reis moved to the University of Leipzig , where he heard among others Max von Gruber , Gustav Döderlein and Emil Kraepelin . In 1914 van der Reis passed the state examination at the University of Munich and received his doctorate with the grade summa cum laude after submitting his dissertation . At the same time he worked as a medical intern at the Pathological-Anatomical Institute of the District Hospital Lichterfelde and received his license to practice medicine on August 5, 1914 .

In the same year van der Reis was called up for military service, where he worked as an assistant and later senior physician and was wounded three times.

On December 3, 1918 van der Reis married the Düsseldorf physician Margarete Ernst, who was one of the first women in Germany to acquire a medical degree. The couple had three children: their son Ernst was born in Greifswald in 1922, followed by Annemarie in 1925; Son Dierk was born in Gdansk in 1928.

In January 1919, van der Reis began working as an assistant in the Greifswald Medical University Clinic under Paul Morawitz and Hermann Straub . There he carried out bacteriological examinations of the intestines and worked out the basics of gastrointestinal microecology in humans until 1928.

In 1928 van der Reis received an extraordinary professorship , almost at the same time he became director of the internal department at the city hospital in Danzig. As an active member of the Danzig Center Party and due to his Jewish descent, he was briefly imprisoned several times from 1935 and had to give up his work at the hospital. With the approval of the Senate of the Free City of Danzig, he opened a private practice, but was soon forced to flee to avoid arrest by the Gestapo . He and his family were temporarily housed in Pelplin , around 50 kilometers south of Danzig, where he was arrested and taken to the Neufahrwasser satellite camp. His wife fled to Düsseldorf with the children. Van der Reis was probably later transferred to the Stutthof concentration camp , from where he escaped in autumn 1939 and reached safety via Italy to Brazil.

There he did research mainly in the field of pharmacology , but also continued to devote himself to gastroenterology.

Works (selection)

  • The adult intestinal bacteria and their clinical significance; 1925
  • The antagonism between colic and diphtheria bacilli and the attempt at practical use; 1922
  • The importance of the physiological intestinal flora; 1922

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Reis, Viktor van der
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German medic
DATE OF BIRTH May 14, 1889
PLACE OF BIRTH Neuenhaus
DATE OF DEATH December 23, 1957
Place of death São Paulo