Hans-Rudolf Wiedemann (February 16, 1915 - August 4, 2006) was a German

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 ...

, University teacher, and

autograph An autograph is a person's own handwriting or signature. The word ''autograph'' comes from Ancient Greek (, ''autós'', "self" and , ''gráphō'', "write"), and can mean more specifically: Gove, Philip B. (ed.), 1981. ''Webster's Third New Inter ...

collector. __TOC__

Life

Wiedemann was born in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

. His father was a medical practitioner. His mother came from a medical family. Wiedemann studied medicine at the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially german: Uni Freiburg), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (german: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisg ...

, the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's List of universities in Germany, sixth-oldest u ...

, the

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (german: link=no, Universität Hamburg, also referred to as UHH) is a public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('' Allgemeines Vor ...

, the

University of Lausanne The University of Lausanne (UNIL; french: links=no, Université de Lausanne) in Lausanne, Switzerland was founded in 1537 as a school of Protestant theology, before being made a university in 1890. The university is the second oldest in Switzer ...

and the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (german: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The un ...

. In 1940, Wiedemann passed the state examination. With a doctoral thesis with Yusuf Ibrahim he was appointed doctor of medicine in 1941 in

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a popu ...

. In Jena, he wrote and researched

jaundice Jaundice, also known as icterus, is a yellowish or greenish pigmentation of the skin and sclera due to high bilirubin levels. Jaundice in adults is typically a sign indicating the presence of underlying diseases involving abnormal heme meta ...

. He continued with specialist training in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

and

Münster Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state distr ...

. As director of the Krefeld Children's Hospital, Wiedemann was one of the first to recognise the fatal side effects of

thalidomide Thalidomide, sold under the brand names Contergan and Thalomid among others, is a medication used to treat a number of cancers (including multiple myeloma), graft-versus-host disease, and a number of skin conditions including complications of ...

. While initially considered safe, thalidomide was responsible for

teratogenic Teratology is the study of abnormalities of physiological development in organisms during their life span. It is a sub-discipline in medical genetics which focuses on the classification of congenital abnormalities in dysmorphology. The related t ...

deformities in children born after their mothers used it during pregnancies, prior to the third trimester. In November 1961, thalidomide was taken off the market due to massive pressure from the press and public. The

University of Kiel Kiel University, officially the Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel, (german: Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in ...

appointed Wiedemann in 1961 as Chairman of

Pediatrics 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 th ...

. In 1977, he was chairman of the German Society for Paediatrics Medicine. In 1980, he became professor emeritus. Wiedemann collected and wrote several books about autographs with his wife Gisela von Sybel. ''„Ein ganzes Heft Autographa!“ Die Sammlung Gisela und Hans-Rudolf Wiedemann''. Katalog der Handschriften im Deutschen Literaturarchiv. . Wiedemann died in

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...

in 2006.

Honors

Among his honors are: *Member of the German

Academy of Sciences Leopoldina The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (german: Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina – Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften), short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founded ...

(1969) *Honorary member of the German Society for Pediatrics (1982) *

Wiedemann–Steiner syndrome Wiedemann–Steiner syndrome (WSS) is a rare genetic disorder that causes developmental delay, unusual facial features, short stature, and reduction in muscle tone (hypotonia). The syndrome was originally described in 1989Wiedemann H-R, Kunze J, ...

(named after) *

Beckwith–Wiedemann syndrome Beckwith–Wiedemann syndrome (; abbreviated BWS) is an overgrowth disorder usually present at birth, characterized by an increased risk of childhood cancer and certain congenital features. A minority (97th centile) * Macroglossia * Hemihyperplas ...

(named after) * Genée–Wiedemann syndrome (named after) *The world of autographs - Gisela and Hans-Rudolf Wiedemann. German Schiller Society, Marbach am Neckar 1994.

References

German geneticists German pediatricians 1915 births 2006 deaths University of Freiburg alumni Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni University of Hamburg alumni University of Lausanne alumni University of Jena alumni Academic staff of the University of Kiel {{authority control