Max Jessner (2 November 1887 – 27 August 1978) was a German dermatologist and university professor. In 1928 he travelled to
Buriat-Mongolia on an expedition to study
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 ...
and the effects of the anti-syphilitic drug
Salvarsan
Arsphenamine, also known as Salvarsan or compound 606, is a drug that was introduced at the beginning of the 1910s as the first effective treatment for syphilis, relapsing fever, and African trypanosomiasis.
This organoarsenic compound was the fi ...
. After escaping Nazi occupied Europe in the mid-1930s, he settled in New York. Jessner is remembered for the development of the chemical peel known as
Jessner's solution and the description of
Jessner-Kanof disease.
Early life and education
Max Jessner was born on 2 November 1887 in
Stolp (now Słupsk in
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
), the son of the dermatologist and lecturer at the University of Königsberg
Samuel Jessner (1859–1929).
He studied medicine at the universities of Munich and Königsberg.
[
Jessner did his dermatological training at clinics in Breslau (now Wroclaw) under Albert Neisser.][
He became assistant to ]Joseph Jadassohn
Joseph (Josef) Jadassohn (10 September 1863, Liegnitz – 24 March 1936, Zurich) was a German dermatologist.
Biography
He was an assistant to Albert Neisser at the Allerheiligen Hospital in Breslau until 1892, the director of the university ...
at the University Department of Dermatology in Bern from 1912 to 1914. Following the interruption of the First World War, in which he also fought, he followed Jadassohn to the University of Breslau
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...
in 1917.[ After his ]habilitation
Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...
there in 1922, he was appointed associate professor in 1926.[
]
Career
In April 1928,[
]
Jessner travelled to Buriat-Mongolia as part of the Soviet-German Syphilis Expedition, an expedition to study 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 ...
and the effects of the anti-syphilitic drug Salvarsan
Arsphenamine, also known as Salvarsan or compound 606, is a drug that was introduced at the beginning of the 1910s as the first effective treatment for syphilis, relapsing fever, and African trypanosomiasis.
This organoarsenic compound was the fi ...
. The mission involved eight Soviet and eight German researchers. For post-revolutionary Russia, the expedition marked an opportunity to use science to solidify political relations and improve communication. For the Germans, it was an opening to the east.
In 1931, he was appointed to Josef Jadassohn's chair.[ In either 1934][ or 1935,][ he was forced to resign, along with Hans Biberstein, because of his Jewish descent.] His successor was Heinrich Gottron who was favoured by the National Socialist
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
regime.[Dermatology and Dermatopathology under the Swastika.]
Wolfgang Weyers. Derm101. Retrieved 9 September 2018. Biberstein later became professor of dermatology at New York University[ like many other dermatologists who escaped Nazi-occupied Europe by travelling to North America.]
Jessner first emigrated to Switzerland in 1935, then in 1941 to New York, where he was reunited with Biberstein. At first, he found work at the New York Postgraduate Medical School and later, he was appointed to the teaching staff of New York University School of Medicine's Skin and Cancer Unit.
Research
Also known as the Coombe's formula, Jessner developed it to form Jessner's solution, a liquid peeling treatment for hyperkeratotic epidermal lesions, containing salicyclic acid
Salicylic acid is an organic compound with the formula HOC6H4CO2H. A colorless, bitter-tasting solid, it is a precursor to and a active metabolite, metabolite of aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid). It is a plant hormone, and has been listed by the ...
, resorcinol
Resorcinol (or resorcin) is an organic compound with the formula C6H4(OH)2. It is one of three isomeric benzenediols, the 1,3-isomer (or '' meta''-isomer). Resorcinol crystallizes from benzene as colorless needles that are readily soluble in w ...
, and lactic acid
Lactic acid is an organic acid. It has a molecular formula . It is white in the solid state and it is miscible with water. When in the dissolved state, it forms a colorless solution. Production includes both artificial synthesis as well as natu ...
in 95% ethanol
Ethanol (abbr. EtOH; also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound. It is an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol with the chemical formula . Its formula can be also written as or (an ethyl ...
, and works by breaking intracellular bridges between keratinocytes
Keratinocytes are the primary type of cell found in the epidermis, the outermost layer of the skin. In humans, they constitute 90% of epidermal skin cells.
Basal cells in the basal layer (''stratum basale'') of the skin are sometimes referred ...
. He reduced the concentration of resorcinol due to its associated allergic contact dermatitis
Allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) is a form of contact dermatitis that is the manifestation of an allergic response caused by contact with a substance; the other type being irritant contact dermatitis (ICD).
Although less common than ICD, ACD is ...
, irritant contact dermatitis
Irritant contact dermatitis is a form of contact dermatitis that can be divided into forms caused by chemical irritants and those caused by physical irritants.
Chemical
Chemical irritant contact dermatitis is either acute or chronic, which is u ...
and skin discolouration. Modified Jessner's solutions, replacing resorcinol with TCA are available.
In New York, he was assisted, like many others, by Marion Sulzberger
Marion Baldur Sulzberger (12 May 1895 - 23 November 1983) was an American dermatologist known for major contributions in his discipline.
In 1928, 2 years after the Swiss dermatologist Bruno Bloch, he published a paperSulzberger MB. Ueber eine bish ...
at the New York Skin and Cancer Unit. It was here that in 1953, with Kanof, he became renowned for the description of Jessner-Kanof disease, a lymphocytic infiltrate of the skin where the lesions were asymptomatic, presenting as red spots or plaques with spontaneous recurrences.
Later life
After retiring, Jessner moved back to Switzerland, where he died on 27 June 1978.[
]
Selected publications
Clinical and Histopathalogic Aspects of Skin Cancer
''Journal of Investigative Dermatology
The ''Journal of Investigative Dermatology'' is a peer-reviewed medical journal covering dermatology. It has been published by Elsevier since 2016 and the editor-in-chief is Mark C. Udey (Washington University School of Medicine).
Abstracting and ...
'', Vol. 11, Issue 1, July 1948, pp. 91–92.
References
Further reading
Oral history with daughter, Sabine Jessner
"Society Transactions"
American Medical Association, ''Archives of Dermatology'', 1957, Volume 75.
Dr Max Jessner’s Comments on Thorium X
''Archives of Dermatology and Syphilology'', Volume 62, Issues 1–3, pp. 11–162.
''Geschichte der deutschsprachigen Dermatologie - History of German Language Dermatology''
Gebundenes Buch – 2009, von Albrecht Scholz (Herausgeber), Karl Holubar (Herausgeber), Günter Burg (Herausgeber), .
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jessner, Max
1887 births
1978 deaths
German dermatologists
People from Słupsk
People from the Province of Pomerania
German people of Jewish descent
University of Breslau faculty
Jessner family