James Adolf Israel (2 February 1848 – 2 February 1926) was a German

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 ...

Academic background

Israel was a native of

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 ...

, where he was born to Jewish parents. In 1870, Israel received his medical doctorate from Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität in Berlin, where he studied under

Ludwig Traube Ludwig Traube may refer to: *Ludwig Traube (physician) (1818–1876), German physician and co-founder of experimental pathology in Germany *Ludwig Traube (palaeographer) (1861–1907), his son, German paleographer {{hndis, Traube, Ludwig ...

(1818–1876). During the Franco-Prussian War, he served as a military physician, afterwards furthering his studies in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

(1871). During the following year (1872), he became an assistant physician at the hospital for the Jewish community. In 1875, after furthering his education in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, he was appointed deputy physician-in-chief of the surgical department of the Jewish hospital in Berlin, where, in 1880, he was promoted to chief-in-chief. In 1894, he received the title of professor. Among his students in Berlin was surgeon Ferdinand Karewski (1858-1923).

Contributions in medicine

Israel was a pioneer in modern

urologic Urology (from Ancient Greek, Greek wikt:οὖρον, οὖρον ''ouron'' "urine" and ''wiktionary:-logia, -logia'' "study of"), also known as genitourinary surgery, is the branch of medicine that focuses on surgical and medical diseases of t ...

and renal surgery. His inaugural thesis involved Bright's kidney disease, and his first report of an operation of the

kidney The kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped organs found in vertebrates. They are located on the left and right in the retroperitoneal space, and in adult humans are about in length. They receive blood from the paired renal arteries; blood ...

was in 1882. He published over 100 articles during his career, largely on urologic medicine. He was co-founder of the journa
''Folia Urologica''
Israel made significant contributions in the field of

plastic surgery Plastic surgery is a surgical specialty involving the restoration, reconstruction or alteration of the human body. It can be divided into two main categories: reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery. Reconstructive surgery includes craniofa ...

, in particular, oral and maxillofacial surgery. He was also an early advocate of

Joseph Lister Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister, (5 April 182710 February 1912) was a British surgeon, medical scientist, experimental pathologist and a pioneer of antiseptic surgery and preventative medicine. Joseph Lister revolutionised the craft of s ...

's antiseptic practices in the operating room. In addition, he is credited for design of a mobile hospital railcar known as a " lazarett". In 1878, he provided the first description of actinomycosis in humans, caused by a pathogen that was later given the name '' Actinomyces israelii''.

Associated eponym

The Nicoladoni-Israel-Branham sign is a circulatory phenomenon seen in angioma racemosum of the extremities. It was first described in 1875 by Carl Nicoladoni (1847–1902).Nicoladoni-Israel-Branham sign
@ Who Named It

Selected writings

* ''Fünf Fälle von diffuser Nephritis'' (Five cases of diffuse

nephritis Nephritis is inflammation of the kidneys and may involve the glomeruli, tubules, or interstitial tissue surrounding the glomeruli and tubules. It is one of several different types of nephropathy. Types * Glomerulonephritis is inflammation of th ...

). Medical dissertation, Berlin 1870. * ''Angiectasie im Stromgebiete der A. tibialis antica''. * ''Beobachtung einiger bemerkenswerther Phaenomene nach Unterbindung der A. femoralis'' . (Observations of a remarkable phenomena after removal of the femoral artery). ''Klin Arch Chir'' 1877; 21 109. * ''Klinische Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Aktinomykose des Menschen''. (Clinical contributions to the knowledge of actinomycosis in humans). Berlin 1885. * ''Ueber Reincultur des Actinomyces und seine Uebertragbarkeit auf Thiere''. Archiv Pathologische Anatomie; (1891); 126:11–28, (with Max Wolff). * ''Chirurgische Klinik der Nierenkrankheiten''. (Surgical clinic of

renal disease Kidney disease, or renal disease, technically referred to as nephropathy, is damage to or disease of a kidney. Nephritis is an inflammatory kidney disease and has several types according to the location of the inflammation. Inflammation can b ...

). Berlin 1901. * ''Die Chirurgie der Niere und des Harnleiters''. (The surgery of the

and ureter). 1926.

References

* This article incorporates 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), ...

External links

James Adolf Israel
@ Who Named It {{DEFAULTSORT:Israel, James 1848 births 1926 deaths German surgeons German microbiologists Jewish microbiologists German bacteriologists German urologists German military doctors Jewish physicians German military personnel of the Franco-Prussian War Scientists from Berlin People from the Province of Brandenburg Humboldt University of Berlin alumni