Josef Jadassohn

Biography of Josef Jadassohn

Josef Jadassohn studied medicine in Göttingen, Heidelberg, Leipzig, and Breslau, obtaining his doctorate in 1887 at Breslau. He was subsequently assistant to Albert Ludwig Sigesmund Neisser (1855-1916) in the dermatological department of the Allerheiligen-Hospital in Breslau until 1892. In 1896 he was appointed extraordinarius and director of the university skin clinic in Bern, where he was elevated to ordinarius in 1903. In 1917 he assumed the chair of dermatology at Breslau, holding this tenure until he was emerited in 1931.

Jadassohn took a meticulous scientific approach to his speciality and he introduced laboratory methods in the investigation of skin diseases. He was also one of the first to employ immunological techniques in the study of dermatological disorders and he made special contributions to the understanding of the immunopathology of tuberculosis and trichophytosis.

Jadassohn was a fine clinician and a notable teacher, and maintained links with colleagues in many countries. He was a corresponding member of the British Association of Dermatology and, in the year prior to his death, he was elected to honorary fellowship of the Royal Society of Medicine. He was diligent and dedicated, spending long hours at his work. He was kindly to his colleagues and staff whom he inspired with his enthusiasm for dermatology. His son, Dr Werner Jadassohn (1898-1973), also became a dermatologist.

Jadassohn revised and published the 14th edition of Edmund Lesser’s (1852-1918) Lehrbuch der Haut- und Geschlechtskrankheiten(2 volumes; Berlin, 1927-1930). This work first appeared in Leipzig in 1885 as a part of Ernst Adolf Gustav Gottfried von Strümpell (1853-1925)’s Lehrbuch der speciellen Pathologie und Therapie der inneren Krankheiten.

He was the publisher of Handbuch der Haut- und Geschlechtskrankheiten, published in 24 volumes [in 42]. Berlin, J. Springer, 1927-1937.

Jadassohn was also co-publisher of Archiv für Dermatologie und Syphilis, Zentralblatt für Haut- und Geschlechtskrankheiten, and Sammlung zwangsloser Abhandlungen aus dem Gebiete der Haut- und Geschlechtskrankheiten.