Marion Baldur Sulzberger

Marion Baldur Sulzberger was the son of Ferdinand Sulzberger, the owner of one of the largest international meat packing firms in the world. Marion's mother was Stella, his father's third wife. He was a brilliant scholar during his school years, but in his teens he indulged in a rather uninhibited lifestyle, before travelling the world, working as a kitchen hand in Switzerland, a docker in England and a shepherd in Australia. His father died while he was overseas.

During World War I Sulzberger was an aviator and eventually achieved the rank of flying instructor. he began his medical studies in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1920, but later changed to the University of Zurich. During this period he came into contact with Josef Jadassohn (1863-1936), professor of dermatology in Bern, and Bruno Bloch (1878-1933), who had been appointed to the chair of dermatology at Zurich in 1916.

Sulzberger was thus well trained in European dermatology when he returned to America. He entered private practice with Fred Wise (1881-1950), who became his friend and mentor. Fred Wise is associated with the eponyms Wise's syndrome (Mucha-Habermann syndrome - pityriasis lichenoides and varioliformis acuta), and Wise-Rein disease (Mucha-Habermann syndrome/Kaposi disease I - Lichen ruber moniliformis)

During World War II Sulzberger served with the Naval Reserve as a lieutenant commander. He was decorated by the United States and France for his outstanding contributions to the understanding and treatment of the dermatoses caused by poison gases, burns and tropical skin diseases.

In 1949 Sulzberger became professor of dermatology and syphilology of the New York University-Bellevue Medical Center. He retired from the chair of dermatology in 1961, but three years later he accepted an appointment as professor of clinical dermatology at the University of California in San Francisco. He retired from his tenure in 1970.

We thank Patrick Jucker-Kupper, Switzerland, for information submitted.

• G. M. MacKee:
  Dr Marion B Sulzberger.
  Journal of Investigative Dermatology, New York, 1955, 24: 141-154.
• J. A. A. Hunter, K. Holubar:
  Sulzberger! Biography, Autobiography, Iconography. A posthumous festschrift.
  American Journal of Dermatopathology, New York, 1984, 6/4: 345-370.