Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Paul Ehrlich

  • Medical portraits of Max Liebermann

    Avi OhryTel Aviv, Israel Max Liebermann was one of Germany’s most influential painters of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, recognized primarily for his Impressionist style and leadership in German modernism. Durin his long career, Liebermann painted several medical persons who achieved considerable recognition during his time and are still regarded as pioneers in…

  • The men who defeated syphilis

    German zoologist Fritz Schaudinn. Source Fritz Schaudinns, Verlag Leopold Voss, Hamburg und Leipzig 1911. Via Wikimedia. Beginnings The origins of syphilis have been subject to much debate. The disease has been claimed to be thousands of years old and originally to have evolved from yaws. Generally mistaken for leprosy and not recognized as a separate entity,…

  • The Red Cross and hematology pioneers

    Barnabas PastoryDar es Salaam, Tanzania Providing medical care to suffering humankind constitutes an important part of the Red Cross’ service scope. History records an important connection between the Red Cross and pioneers in the subject matter of blood. The humanitarian service of the Red Cross began between 1859 and 1863 with the advocacy efforts of…

  • Origins of the Pap smear

    When Dr. Georgios Papanikolaou brought his wife to America in 1913 he had $250 in his pocket. Both had to take menial jobs, she as a seamstress, he as a rug salesman, violin player in a restaurant, and clerk at a Greek newspaper. A year later, he obtained a position as laboratory technician at Cornell…

  • Paul Ehrlich: from aniline dyes to the magic bullet

    George DuneaChicago, Illinois, United States To understand Paul Ehrlich, the man who developed the first effective cure for syphilis, we must dial back to 1826. In that year, a German scientist called Otto Unverdoren isolated from indigo a volatile organic substance that smelled like rotten fish. Other scientists followed him and claimed to have isolated…