Fritz Richard Schaudinn (19 September 1871 – 22 June 1906) was a German
zoologist.
Born in Röseningken,
East Prussia
East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...
, he co-discovered, with
Erich Hoffmann in 1905, the causative agent of
syphilis
Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms of syphilis vary depending in which of the four stages it presents (primary, secondary, latent, an ...
, ''Spirochaeta pallida'' (also known as ''Treponema pallidum''). The work was carried out at the Berlin
Charité
The Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Charité – Berlin University of Medicine) is one of Europe's largest university hospitals, affiliated with Humboldt University and Free University Berlin. With numerous Collaborative Research Cen ...
.
Among Schaudinn's other contributions to medicine include his work in the field of
amoebic dysentery and
sleeping sickness, his confirmation of the work of Sir
Ronald Ross and
Giovanni Battista Grassi
Giovanni Battista Grassi (27 March 1854 – 4 May 1925) was an Italian physician and zoologist, best known for his pioneering works on parasitology, especially on malariology. He was Professor of Comparative Zoology at the University of Catania ...
(1854–1925) in the field of
malaria research. He also demonstrated that human
hookworm infection is contracted through the skin of the feet. He made noted contributions to zoology and was one of the developers of
protozoology as an experimental science. Schaudinn was a graduate in zoology of the
Friedrich Wilhelm University in
Berlin. Since 2002 an annual medical prize has been awarded in his name.
In 1898 with zoologist
Fritz Römer (1866–1909), he participated on a scientific trip to
Svalbard
Svalbard ( , ), also known as Spitsbergen, or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it is about midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. The islands of the group range ...
. Results of the expedition led to publication of ''Fauna Arctica'', a project on
Arctic fauna begun by Schaudinn and Römer and continued by
August Brauer
August Bernhard Brauer (3 April 186310 September 1917) was a German zoologist.
Brauer was born in Oldenburg. He studied natural sciences at the Universities of Bonn, Berlin and Freiburg, obtaining his doctorate in 1895 with a thesis on the ciliat ...
(1863–1917) and
Walther Arndt (1891–1944).
Smithsonian Institution
Fauna arctica
Schaudinn died during his journey back to Germany from an International Medicine Meeting in Lisbon, when he underwent an urgent surgery aboard due to gastrointestinal amoebian abscess
An abscess is a collection of pus that has built up within the tissue of the body. Signs and symptoms of abscesses include redness, pain, warmth, and swelling. The swelling may feel fluid-filled when pressed. The area of redness often extends b ...
es. Such amoebian infection had probably been voluntarily acquired when he did research on amoebas. Schaudinn was a little under 35 years of age when he died in Hamburg.
References
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External links
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Anais Brasileiros de Dermatologia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schaudinn, Fritz
1871 births
1906 deaths
19th-century German zoologists
People from the Province of Prussia
Infectious disease deaths in Germany
German venereologists
20th-century German zoologists