Ferdinand Ritter von Hebra

Ferdinand Karl Franz Schwarzmann, Ritter von Hebra^[a] (7 September 1816, in Brno, Moravia – 5 August 1880 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary) was an Austrian physician and dermatologist known as the founder of the New Vienna School of Dermatology, an important group of physicians who established the foundations of modern dermatology.^[1][2]

Ferdinand Ritter von Hebra
Ferdinand Ritter von Hebra
Born	7 September 1816 Brno, Moravia, then part of the Austrian Empire, now the Czech Republic
Died	5 August 1880 (1880-08-06) (aged 63) Vienna, Austria-Hungary, now Austria
Nationality	Austrian, (Austro-Hungarian)
Known for	Vienna School of Dermatology
Scientific career
Fields	Dermatology
Influences	Carl Freiherr von Rokitansky

Life

Ferdinand Schwarzmann von Hebra was born to a military officer. He first studied in Graz, then entered the University of Vienna and graduated in medicine in 1841.^[2] He was influenced by Carl Freiherr von Rokitansky, one of the founders of modern pathological anatomy.^[3]

While still a young man, Hebra wrote one of the most influential books on dermatology of all times, the Atlas der Hautkrankeiten (Atlas of skin diseases), with phenomenal illustrations by two of the leading medical illustrators of Austria, Anton Elfinger (1821–1864) and Carl Heitzmann (1836–1896).

Thought not its original discoverer, von Hebra's 1844 treatise on scabies dispelled any remaining doubt that the itch mite was the cause of scabies. This publication was the inflection point where the term 'scabies' transitioned from referring to a collection of non-specific itchy ailments, to a particular pathological process specifically caused by the itch mite (albeit with many manifestations).^[4]

In the second half of the 19th century, Hebra introduced resurfacing and restoring skin with chemical peel. He used exfoliative agents, like phenol, croton oil, nitric acid in various cautious combination for treating freckles and skin irregularities.^[5] He greatly influenced Carl Mayrhofer, who continued Semmelweis's research on puerperal fever.^[6]

Semmelweis and Hebra

An early supporter of Ignaz Semmelweis and the editor of a leading Austrian medical journal, Hebra announced Semmelweis's discovery that handwashing with chloride of lime reduces the incidence of puerperal fever in the December 1847 and April 1848 issues of the Viennese medical journal. Hebra claimed that Semmelweis's work had a practical significance comparable to that of Edward Jenner's introduction of cowpox inoculations to prevent smallpox.^[7]

Hebra was the only friend who kept in touch with Semmelweis after his departure from Vienna.^[7]

Due to Semmelweis's suffering from severe depression and other mental problems, János Balassa signed a document which committed him to a mental institution. On 30 July 1865 Hebra was one of the party who arranged Semmelweis’s fake trip to his “new water-cure hospital”, actually taking the long-time friend into a Viennese asylum for the insane located in the Lazarettgasse (Landes-Irren-Anstalt in der Lazarettgasse). On arrival there, Semmelweis guessed what was happening and tried to leave, but he was forcibly subdued by the asylum's guards and died two weeks later from a gangrenous wound which may have been caused by the struggle.^[8][9]

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  Young (undated image)

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  Old (undated image)

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  With colleagues in Vienna, 1853

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  Lupus erythematosus, illustration from Hebra's Atlas of Skin Diseases

Notes

1. Regarding personal names: Ritter is a title, translated approximately as Sir (denoting a Knight), not a first or middle name. There is no equivalent female form.

References

1. Morris 1897, p. 699.
2. Aniyathodiyil 2020.
3. Gortvay & Zoltan 1968, p. 27.
4. Craig, Errol (2022). The Itch : Scabies (1st ed.). United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. pp. 128–131. ISBN 978-0-19-284840-6.
5. Nicolò Scuderi, Bryant A. Toth "International Textbook of Aesthetic Surgery (May 2016), p. 841-842
6. Carter 1985, p. 37.
7. Gortvay & Zoltan 1968, p. 60.
8. Sinclair 1909, p. 268.
9. Carter, Abbott & Siebach 1995, pp. 263–264. sfn error: no target: CITEREFCarterAbbottSiebach1995 (help)

Sources

• Aniyathodiyil, Preetha Unni (2020-04-17). "Von Hebra – Legend in dermatology". Journal of Skin and Sexually Transmitted Diseases. 2 (1): 35–36. doi:10.25259/JSSTD_41_2019.
• Benedek, István (1983). Ignaz Phillip Semmelweis 1818–1865. Druckerei Kner, Gyomaendrőd, Hungary: Corvina Kiadó (Translated from Hungarian to German by Brigitte Engel). ISBN 963-13-1459-6.
• Carter, K. Codell (1985). "Ignaz Semmelweis, Carl Mayrhofer, and the Rise of Germ Theory". Medical History. 29 (25): 33–53. doi:10.1017/S0025727300043738. PMC 1139480. PMID 3883083.
• Gortvay, Gyorgy; Zoltan, Imre (1968). Semmelweis: His Life and Work. Budapest: Akademiai Kiado. p. 236.
• Holubar, Karl (1981). "Ferdinand von Hebra 1816–1880: On the Occasion of the Centenary of His Death". International Journal of Dermatology. 20 (4): 291–295. doi:10.1111/j.1365-4362.1981.tb04341.x. PMID 7016771. S2CID 29240315.
• Morris, Malcolm (1897-09-18). "The Rise and Progress of Dermatology". The British Medical Journal. 2 (1916): 697–702. doi:10.1136/bmj.2.1916.697. JSTOR 20251313. PMC 2407624.
• Sinclair, William J. (1909). Semmelweis: his life and doctrine : A chapter in the history of medicine. Manchester: University of Leeds Library.
• Shampo, Marc A; Davis, Mark D P (November 2006). "Dermatologists honored on stamps". Arch Dermatol. 142 (11): 1489–92. doi:10.1001/archderm.142.11.1489. PMID 17116842.
• Pretterklieber, M L (July 1996). "Ferdinand Ritter von Hebra--founder of modern dermatology". Isr. J. Med. Sci. 32 (7): 584. PMID 8756989.
• Tappeiner, J; Holubar, K (September 1981). "[Ferdinand von Hebra: the man and his work (author's transl)]". Wien. Klin. Wochenschr. 93 (16): 503–6. PMID 7029925.

External links

• Ferdinand von Hebra. WhoNamedIt
• Hebra Atlas. DermIS site in German, with many illustrations from the famous book and a biography of von Hebra.