Louis Adolphus Duhring (December 23, 1845,

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

– May 8, 1913, Philadelphia) was an American physician and professor of

dermatology 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 medical ...

at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

. He is best remembered for having delineated

dermatitis herpetiformis Dermatitis herpetiformis (DH) is a chronic autoimmune blistering skin condition, characterised by intensely itchy blisters filled with a watery fluid. DH is a cutaneous manifestation of coeliac disease, although the exact causal mechanism is not k ...

(also known as Duhring's disease); but he also described pruritus hiemalis ("winter itch"), and

seborrheic dermatitis Seborrhoeic dermatitis, sometimes inaccurately referred to as seborrhoea, is a long-term skin disorder. Symptoms include red, scaly, greasy, itchy, and inflamed skin. Areas of the skin rich in oil-producing glands are often affected including the ...

. After a stint with the 32nd Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, Duhring enrolled at Penn's Medical School, graduating in 1867. From 1868 he continued 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 ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and

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 ...

, returning to Philadelphia in 1870, where he established the Dispensary for Skin Diseases. He was director of the dispensary until 1880. In the meantime he became a lecturer of dermatological diseases at the

(1871), as well as a visiting dermatologist at the department of skin diseases at

Blockley Hospital Blockley is a village, civil parish and ecclesiastical parish in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England, about northwest of Moreton-in-Marsh. Until 1931 Blockley was an exclave of Worcestershire. The civil and ecclesiastical parish ...

(1876-1887). In 1876 he gained his clinical professorship at Penn, becoming a full professor in 1890. In 1876 he was a founding member of the American Dermatological Association (twice serving as its president). He was the author of two major works, ''Atlas of Skin Diseases'' (1876–80) and ''A Practical Treatise on Diseases of the Skin'' (1877). The latter book established Duhring as a top authority in American dermatology. He also authored the encyclopedic ''Cutaneous Medicine'', of which only two of several planned volumes were published, in 1895 and 1898. Duhring died on May 8, 1913 due to an

intestinal obstruction Bowel obstruction, also known as intestinal obstruction, is a mechanical or functional obstruction of the intestines which prevents the normal movement of the products of digestion. Either the small bowel or large bowel may be affected. Signs an ...

and resulting

peritonitis Peritonitis is inflammation of the localized or generalized peritoneum, the lining of the inner wall of the abdomen and cover of the abdominal organs. Symptoms may include severe pain, swelling of the abdomen, fever, or weight loss. One part or ...

. He was interred at

Laurel Hill Cemetery Laurel Hill Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery in the East Falls neighborhood of Philadelphia. Founded in 1836, it was the second major rural cemetery in the United States after Mount Auburn Cemetery in Boston, Massachusetts. The cemetery is ...

in Philadelphia.

References

Louis Adolphus Duhring (1845-1912), University of Pennsylvania
Penn Biographies

External link

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Duhring, Louis Adolphus American dermatologists 1845 births 1913 deaths Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia) University of Pennsylvania faculty Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania alumni Physicians from Philadelphia Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania faculty