Carl Wilhelm Boeck (December 15, 1808 – December 10, 1875) was a Norwegian

dermatologist Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the skin.''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.'' Random House, Inc. 2001. Page 537. . It is a speciality with both medical and surgical aspects. A dermatologist is a specialist medica ...

. He was born at

Kongsberg Kongsberg () is a historical mining town and municipality in Buskerud, Viken county, Norway. The city is located on the river Numedalslågen at the entrance to the valley of Numedal. Kongsberg has been a centre of silver mining, arms production ...

Buskerud Buskerud () is a former county and a current electoral district in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane, Hordaland, Telemark and Vestfold. The region extends from the Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden in the southeast to Ha ...

, Norway. In 1831 he earned his medical degree from the

University of Christiania The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

(now University of Oslo). From 1833 to 1846, he practiced medicine in Kongsberg. Afterwards, he became a lecturer of dermatology and surgery at the University of Christiania and later attained a full professorship (1851-1869). He was also physician at

Rikshospitalet Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet is one of the four main campuses of Oslo University Hospital in Oslo, Norway. It was an independent hospital, ''Rigshospitalet'', later spelled ''Rikshospitalet'' ("The National Hospital"), from 1826 to 200 ...

(1850-1875). . Boeck specialized in research and treatment of syphilis. He is remembered for his experiments with "syphilization", which was a form of

vaccination Vaccination is the administration of a vaccine to help the immune system develop immunity from a disease. Vaccines contain a microorganism or virus in a weakened, live or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism. In stimulating ...

against the disease. The practice consisted of repeated inoculations of secretion from "soft

chancre A chancre ( )chancres
thefreedictionary is a painless

", until inoculation caused no further reaction. Boeck wasn't the first physician to use syphilization, as it was earlier attempted by Joseph-Alexandre Auzias-Turenne (1813–1870), who experimented with syphilization on laboratory animals. In the 1840s, with dermatologist

Daniel Cornelius Danielssen Daniel Cornelius Danielssen (4 July 1815 – 13 July 1894) was a Norwegian physician. He was most noted for his research regarding the causes and treatment of leprosy. Biography Danielssen was from Bergen, Norway. Dating from 1839, he was ass ...

(1815–1894), Boeck conducted research of

leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve damag ...

. From their studies, the two physicians collaborated on an important treatise on leprosy called ''Om Spedalskhed''. At the time, Boeck and Danielssen believed leprosy to be an

hereditary disease A genetic disorder is a health problem caused by one or more abnormalities in the genome. It can be caused by a mutation in a single gene (monogenic) or multiple genes (polygenic) or by a chromosomal abnormality. Although polygenic disorders ...

. Later in his career, he visited the United States in order to research

among

Norwegian-American Norwegian Americans ( nb, Norskamerikanere, nn, Norskamerikanarar) are Americans with ancestral roots in Norway. Norwegian immigrants went to the United States primarily in the latter half of the 19th century and the first few decades of the ...

immigrants.

References

Other sources

''Carl Wilhelm Boeck''
@

Who Named It ''Whonamedit?'' is an online English-language dictionary of medical eponyms and the people associated with their identification. Though it is a dictionary, many eponyms and persons are presented in extensive articles with comprehensive bibliograp ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boeck, Carl Wilhelm 1808 births 1875 deaths People from Kongsberg University of Oslo alumni Norwegian dermatologists Norwegian educators Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters