Friedrich Ludwig Meissner (25 August 1796, in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

– 4 December 1860) was a German obstetrician,

gynecologist Gynaecology or gynecology (see spelling differences) is the area of medicine that involves the treatment of women's diseases, especially those of the reproductive organs. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, forming the combined area ...

and

pediatrician Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the ...

. He studied medicine in Leipzig, earning his PhD in 1819. From 1821 he taught classes at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

, becoming a professor of obstetrics and gynecology in 1831. In 1838 he founded an obstetrics clinic. In 1856 he provided possibly the first account of

long QT syndrome Long QT syndrome (LQTS) is a condition affecting repolarization (relaxing) of the heart after a heartbeat, giving rise to an abnormally lengthy QT interval. It results in an increased risk of an irregular heartbeat which can result in fainting, d ...

(LQTS), of which he described a case where a deaf girl collapsed and died while being publicly scolded at school.

Selected writings

* ''Die Dislocationen der Gebärmutter und der Mutterscheide'' 1821-22 – Displacements of the

uterus The uterus (from Latin ''uterus'', plural ''uteri'') or womb () is the organ in the reproductive system of most female mammals, including humans that accommodates the embryonic and fetal development of one or more embryos until birth. The uter ...

and the

vagina In mammals, the vagina is the elastic, muscular part of the female genital tract. In humans, it extends from the vestibule to the cervix. The outer vaginal opening is normally partly covered by a thin layer of mucosal tissue called the hymen ...

. * ''Forschungen des neunzehnten jahrhunderts im gebiete der Geburtshülfe, Frauenzimmer- und Kinderkrankheiten'', 1826-33 – Research of the 19th century in the areas of obstetrics, women's and children's diseases. * ''Die Kinderkrankheiten nach den neuesten Ansichten und Erfahrungen zum Untersicht für practische Arzte'', 1832. * ''Die Frauenzimmerkrankheiten nach den neuesten Ansichten und Erfahrungen zum Unterricht für praktische Aerzte'', 1842-46 – Women's diseases according to the latest views and experiences on education for practicing physicians. * ''Grundlage der Literatur der Pädiatrik'', 1850. Meissner was an active member of the

Freemasons Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

; in 1842 he started the German Masonic magazine ''Latomia''.Kenning's Masonic Encyclopedia and Handbook of Masonic Archeology, History ...
by George Kenning

References

* Biographical information based on a translation of an equivalent article at the

German Wikipedia The German Wikipedia (german: Deutschsprachige Wikipedia) is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia. Founded on March 16, 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia (after the English Wikipedia), ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Meissner, Friedrich Ludwig 1796 births 1860 deaths Physicians from Leipzig Academic staff of Leipzig University Leipzig University alumni German obstetricians German gynaecologists German pediatricians