Jacob Hermann Knapp (March 17, 1832 – April 30, 1911), also known as Hermann Knapp, was a

German-American German Americans (german: Deutschamerikaner, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. With an estimated size of approximately 43 million in 2019, German Americans are the largest of the self-reported ancestry groups by the Unite ...

ophthalmologist Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgery, surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Followin ...

and

otolaryngologist Otorhinolaryngology ( , abbreviated ORL and also known as otolaryngology, otolaryngology–head and neck surgery (ORL–H&N or OHNS), or ear, nose, and throat (ENT)) is a surgical subspeciality within medicine that deals with the surgical a ...

Biography

Knapp was born in Dauborn,

Nassau Nassau may refer to: Places Bahamas *Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence Canada *Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792 *Nassau Street (Winnipeg), ...

. He earned his medical degree from the

University of Giessen University of Giessen, official name Justus Liebig University Giessen (german: Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen), is a large public research university in Giessen, Hesse, Germany. It is named after its most famous faculty member, Justus von L ...

in 1854. As a young physician he studied with Franciscus Cornelis Donders in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

, William Bowman in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Albrecht von Graefe Albrecht von Graefe may refer to: * Albrecht von Graefe (ophthalmologist) (1828-1870), Prussian opthalmologist * Albrecht von Graefe (politician) Albrecht von Graefe (1 January 1868 – 18 April 1933) was a German landowner and right-wing ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and

Hermann von Helmholtz Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz (31 August 1821 – 8 September 1894) was a German physicist and physician who made significant contributions in several scientific fields, particularly hydrodynamic stability. The Helmholtz Association, ...

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

. From 1860 until 1868 he was a professor of

ophthalmology Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a medic ...

at Heidelberg. He emigrated to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, where he worked as a

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

. In 1869 he founded the New York Ophthalmic and Aural Institute, which from 1913 to 1939 was called the Herman Knapp Memorial Hospital. In 1882, he was made professor of the

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

Medical College. In 1888, he was appointed professor of ophthalmology at the College of Physicians and Surgeons,

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, and in 1902 he became emeritus professor. His son, Arnold Knapp (1869–1956) was also a noted ophthalmologist. In 1869, with Salomon Moos (1831–1895), he founded the "Archives of Ophthalmology and Otology" (''Archiv für Augen- und Ohrenheilkunde''), an international scientific monthly journal that was published in

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

(in German) and New York (in English). In 1878 the archives split into two independent entities; as the "Archives of Ophthalmology" (''Archiv für Augenheilkunde'') and the "Journal of Otology" (''Zeitschrift für Ohrenheilkunde''). His name is lent to the eponymous "Knapp streaks"; also known as

angioid streaks Angioid streaks, also called Knapp streaks or Knapp striae, are small breaks in Bruch's membrane, an elastic tissue containing membrane of the retina that may become calcified and crack. Up to 50% of angioid streak cases are idiopathic. It may oc ...

, which are tiny breaks in the

elastin Elastin is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''ELN'' gene. Elastin is a key component of the extracellular matrix in gnathostomes (jawed vertebrates). It is highly elastic and present in connective tissue allowing many tissues in the bod ...

-filled tissue in the back of the eye. He devised his own version of an ophthalmotrope, a device used in

physiological Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...

optics Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultraviole ...

to demonstrate the action of ocular muscles individually or in various combinations. Several instruments used in

eye surgery Eye surgery, also known as ophthalmic or ocular surgery, is surgery performed on the eye or its adnexa, by an ophthalmologist or sometimes, an optometrist. Eye surgery is synonymous with ophthalmology. The eye is a very fragile organ, and requ ...

bear his name, including the "Knapp

trachoma Trachoma is an infectious disease caused by bacterium ''Chlamydia trachomatis''. The infection causes a roughening of the inner surface of the eyelids. This roughening can lead to pain in the eyes, breakdown of the outer surface or cornea of ...

forceps Forceps (plural forceps or considered a plural noun without a singular, often a pair of forceps; the Latin plural ''forcipes'' is no longer recorded in most dictionaries) are a handheld, hinged instrument used for grasping and holding objects. Fo ...

". Knapp is interred in New York City at Woodlawn Cemetery.

Selected writings

* "Curvature of the

Cornea The cornea is the transparent front part of the eye that covers the iris, pupil, and anterior chamber. Along with the anterior chamber and lens, the cornea refracts light, accounting for approximately two-thirds of the eye's total optical power ...

of the Human Eye" (german: Die Krümmung der Hornhaut des menschlichen Auges, Heidelberg, 1859) * "Intraocular Tumors" (Karlsruhe, 1868), New York", 1869) * "Cocaine and its Use in Ophthalmic and General Surgery" (New York, 1885) * "Investigations on Fermentation, Putrefaction, and Suppuration" (1886) * "Cataract Extraction without

Iridectomy An iridectomy, also known as a surgical iridectomy or corectomy, is the surgery, surgical removal of part of the Iris (anatomy), iris.Cline D; Hofstetter HW; Griffin JR. ''Dictionary of Visual Science''. 4th ed. Butterworth-Heinemann, Boston 1997. ...

" (1887) * "A Series of One Thousand Successive Cases of Cataract Extraction without Iridectomy" (1887).

Notes

References

Trevor Phillips and Sons, Limited; Antique Instrumentation
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Knapp, Hermann Jakob 1832 births 1911 deaths American ophthalmologists German ophthalmologists German emigrants to the United States People from the Duchy of Nassau University of Giessen alumni Utrecht University alumni Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Heidelberg University alumni Academic staff of Heidelberg University New York University faculty Columbia University faculty Columbia Medical School faculty Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York)