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.

• Krankheiten der Haut.
  With Albert Ludwig Sigmund Neisser (1855-1916).
• Krankheiten des Penis nebst Harnröhre.
• Ueber eine eigenartige Erkrankung der Nasenhaut bei Kindern (”Granulosis rubra nasi”). Archiv für Dermatologie und Syphilis, Wien, 1901, 58: 145-158. Jadassohn’s disease III.
• Die venerischen Krankheiten.
  In: Wilhelm Ebstein (1836-1912) and Gustav Albert Schwalbe (1844-1916), publishers: Handbuch der praktischen Medizin, in Verbindung mit Zahlreichen Gelehrten. 2nd edition, 1905
• Lupus erythematodes.
• Die Tuberkulose der Haut.
  In: Franz Mracek (1848-1908): Handbuch der Hautkrankheiten. Volume 3, volume 4,1; Vienna, 1904 and 1907. (4 volumes, Vienna, 1902-1909).
• Hautkrankheiten. In: Julius Schwalbe (1863-1930), Herausgeber: Lehrbuch der Greisenkrankheiten, Stuttgart, 1909.
• Allgemeine Ätiologie, Pathologie, Diagnose und Therapie der Gonorrhoe.
  In: Handbuch der Geschlechtskrankheiten, volume 1; Vienna, 1910.
• Über Pyodermien, die Infektionen der Haut mit den banalen Eitererregern : Erweiterte Ausarbeitung nach einem am Schweizer. Ärztetag in Bern gehaltenen Vortrag.
  Verlag Halle a.S. : C. Marhold, 1912.
  (Sammlung zwangloser Abhandlungen aus dem Gebiete der Dermatologie, der Syphilidologie und der Krankheiten des Urogenitalapparates ... 1, 2)
• Lepra.
  In: Wilhelm Kolle (1868-1935) and August Paul von Wassermann (1866-1925), publishers:
  Handbuch der pathogenen Microorganismen. 2nd edition, Jena, 1913; 3rd edition, volume 5,2, 1928.
• Handbuch der Haut- und geschlechtskrankheiten. Ergänzungswerk.
  Herausgegeben von A. Marchionini gemeinsam mit Zahlreichen Fachgelehrten. 10 volumes? Berlin-Springer-Verlag, 1959-1970. Obituary:
  
• British Journal of Dermatology and Syphilis, Oxford 48/6: 323-324.
• W. B. Shelley, J. T. Grissey:
  Josef Jadassohn. In: Classics in Clinical Dermatology. Springfield, Illinois, Charles C. Thomas, 1953.