Friedrich Göppert (25 October 18709 February 1927) was a German

paediatrician Pediatrics (American English) also spelled paediatrics (British English), is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, pediatrics covers many of their yout ...

who worked at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

from 1910 to 1927. He was the first to describe

Galactosemia Galactosemia (British galactosaemia, from Greek γαλακτόζη + αίμα, meaning galactose + blood, accumulation of galactose in blood) is a rare genetics, genetic Metabolism, metabolic Disease, disorder that affects an individual's ability t ...

Life and career

Friedrich Göppert was born in

Kattowitz Katowice (, ) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Katowice urban area. As of 2021, Katowice has an official population of 286,960, and a resident population estimate of around 315,000. K ...

on 25 October 1870. His grandfather was the

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

and

palaeontologist Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geolo ...

Heinrich Göppert Johann Heinrich Robert Göppert (25 July 1800 – 18 May 1884) was a German botanist and paleontologist. Career He was born in Sprottau, Lower Silesia, and died at Breslau. In 1831, he became a professor of botany, as well as curator of the bo ...

; his father was a notable lawyer and an advisor to the Prussian Minister of Culture. All four of his brothers worked in the national or state civil service. He studied medicine at the

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

and the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

, and obtained his doctorate in medicine in Breslau in 1896. He then worked as an assistant at the children's clinics in Berlin, working under

Otto Heubner Johann Otto Leonhard Heubner (January 21, 1843 – October 17, 1926) was a German internist and pediatrician who was a native of Mühltroff. He studied medicine at the University of Leipzig, and in 1867 became an assistant to Carl Reinhold Aug ...

, and Breslau, where he was an assistant to

Adalbert Czerny Adalbert Czerny (25 March 1863 – 3 October 1941) was an Austrian pediatrician. He is considered one of the founders of modern pediatrics and played a pivotal role in reducing child mortality. Several children's diseases were named after him. ...

. From 1900 to 1909 Göppert worked as a paediatrician in Kattowitz. In 1909, he went to the

University of Kiel Kiel University, officially the Christian Albrecht University of Kiel, (, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a public research university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in 1665 as the ''Academia Holsator ...

to study under Wilhelm von Starck, but before he could complete his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

he was appointed associate professor for paediatrics at the

. He became a full professor in 1919, and remained there until his death in 1927. He was the father of

Maria Goeppert Mayer Maria Goeppert Mayer (; ; June 28, 1906 – February 20, 1972) was a German-American theoretical physicist who shared the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physics with J. Hans D. Jensen and Eugene Wigner. One half of the prize was awarded jointly to Goeppe ...

, who won the

Nobel Prize in Physics The Nobel Prize in Physics () is an annual award given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for those who have made the most outstanding contributions to mankind in the field of physics. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the ...

in 1963. Göppert was the first to describe the disease

, in a paper published in 1917. Its cause as a defect in galactose metabolism was later identified by a group led by Herman Kalckar in 1956. Other papers described calcium therapy and treatments for

dysentery Dysentery ( , ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications may include dehyd ...

, and he wrote a book on

diphtheria Diphtheria is an infection caused by the bacteria, bacterium ''Corynebacterium diphtheriae''. Most infections are asymptomatic or have a mild Course (medicine), clinical course, but in some outbreaks, the mortality rate approaches 10%. Signs a ...

. Göppert died on 9 February 1927, in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, where he had gone to a sanatorium to recover from a persistent weakness that he was feeling.

Works

* ''Grundlegende Studien über die Genickstarre anlässlich der Erforschung der in Oberschlesien herrschenden Epidemie'', 1905 * ''Die Nasen-, Hals- und Ohrenkrankheiten des Kindes in der täglichen Praxis'', 1914 * ''Prophylaxe und Therapie der Kinderkrankheiten'', 1920 * ''Diphtherie'', 1925 (Bergmanns Handbuch Band 1)

References

External links

* Killy/Vierhaus (Hrsg.), Deutsche Biographische Enzyklopädie, 1996 * Fischer (Hrsg.), Biographisches Lexikon der herausragenden Ärzte der letzten fünfzig Jahre, 1932 * Alma Kreuter, Deutschsprachige Psychologen und Psychiater, 1996 {{DEFAULTSORT:Goppert, Friedrich German pediatricians 1870 births 1927 deaths