Rudolf Schindler (1888–1968) was a German

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

, who practiced medicine as a

gastroenterologist Gastroenterology (from the Greek gastḗr- “belly”, -énteron “intestine”, and -logía "study of") is the branch of medicine focused on the digestive system and its disorders. The digestive system consists of the gastrointestinal tract, ...

. He is regarded widely as the "father of

gastroscopy Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) or oesophagogastroduodenoscopy (OGD), also called by various other names, is a diagnostic endoscopic procedure that visualizes the upper part of the gastrointestinal tract down to the duodenum. It is considered ...

." He was born in Berlin. During the First World War he described numerous diseases involving the human digestive system. He wrote the illustrated textbook, ''Lehrbuch und Atlas der Gastroskopie'' (''Textbook and Atlas of Gastroscopy''). Between 1928 and 1932 Schindler worked with the Berlin-based instrument-maker and technician, Georg Wolf, on the development of the first semi-flexible

gastroscope Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) or oesophagogastroduodenoscopy (OGD), also called by various other names, is a diagnostic endoscopic procedure that visualizes the upper part of the gastrointestinal tract down to the duodenum. It is considere ...

, which allowed a greater range for examination, facilitating diagnosis and some treatments without abdominal surgery. With the rise of the Nazi party he was arrested. Upon his release in 1934, he made his way to the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

. He settled in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and practiced medicine there until 1943. He then relocated to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, California, where he continued his work in gastroenterology until his retirement. His work included writing two more books in the field of gastroenterology, teaching students, and saving lives. Schindler was married to Gabriele Winkler, who was an important contributor to his work and they had two children. After her death in 1964, he married Marie Aumüller Koch, a pianist by whom he was the natural father of two children, including actress and later doctor

Marianne Koch Marianne Koch (; born 19 August 1931) is a German actress of the 1950s and 1960s, best known for her appearances in Spaghetti Westerns and adventure films of the 1960s. She later worked as a television host and as a physician. Career Betwe ...

, before he fled Germany in 1934. They moved to

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

where he died in 1968.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schindler, Rudolf German gastroenterologists 1888 births 1968 deaths Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States Physicians from Berlin