Alexander Karl Otto Westphal

Alexander Karl Otto Westphal was the son of the psychiatrist Karl Friedrich Otto Westphal (1833-1890). He studied from 1882 at Heidelberg and Berlin, approbiert 1887, received his doctorate at Berlin in 1888. Westphal received further education at the medical clinic in Heidelberg as assistant under Wilhelm Heinrich Erb (1840-1921), and under Hans Curschmann (1875-1950) in Leipzig. In 1892 head physician in the department for nervous diseases at the Berlin Charité under Friedrich Jolly (1844-1904), and was habilitated for psychiatry and neurology in 1894.

In 1902 he accepted an invitation to Greifswald as professor extraordinary, and in 1904 went to Bonn as full professor.

Westphal's works concern contributions to the knowledge of Diabetes insipidus, leukaemia and pseudoleukaemia, the presence of Charcot-Leyden crystal in tissue juices in the living, congenital kidney atrophy, irritability of muscles and peripheral nerves in the newborn. Westphal also occasioned a complete edition of his fathers scientific works.