August Cramer was a Swiss-German neuropathologist and psychiatrist

Psychiatrist

A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...

 who was a native of the canton St. Gallen

St. Gallen

St. Gallen is the capital of the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. It evolved from the hermitage of Saint Gall, founded in the 7th century. Today, it is a large urban agglomeration and represents the center of eastern Switzerland. The town mainly relies on the service sector for its economic...

.

He studied medicine in Marburg and Freiburg

University of Freiburg

The University of Freiburg , sometimes referred to in English as the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.The university was founded in 1457 by the Habsburg dynasty as the...

, earning his medical doctorate in 1887. In 1889 be began work at a mental asylum in Eberswalde

Eberswalde

Eberswalde is a major town and the administrative seat of the district Barnim in the German Federal State of Brandenburg, about 50 km northeast of Berlin. Population 42144 , geographical location . The town is often called Waldstadt , because of the large forests around it, including the...

, and in 1895 received his habilitation in psychiatry

Psychiatry

Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...

 at the University of Göttingen, where he subsequently became a professor and director of the psychiatric clinic. At Göttingen

Göttingen

Göttingen is a university town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686.-General information:...

 he helped establish the Provinzial-Jugendheim, an institution for treatment and education of psychopathic youth.

Cramer published numerous essays on clinical psychiatry, brain pathology

Pathology

Pathology is the precise study and diagnosis of disease. The word pathology is from Ancient Greek , pathos, "feeling, suffering"; and , -logia, "the study of". Pathologization, to pathologize, refers to the process of defining a condition or behavior as pathological, e.g. pathological gambling....

, pathological anatomy, et al. Among his better known books were a treatise on forensic psychiatry

Forensic psychiatry

Forensic psychiatry is a sub-speciality of psychiatry and an auxiliar science of criminology. It encompasses the interface between law and psychiatry...

 titled Gerichtliche Psychiatrie. Ein Leitfaden für Mediziner und Juristen, and a textbook of nervous disorders in children that he co-authored with Ludwig Bruns

Ludwig Bruns

Ludwig Bruns was a German neurologist who was a native of Hanover. He studied medicine in Göttingen and Munich, receiving his doctorate in 1882. Subsequently, he was an assistant to Eduard Hitzig at the insane asylum in Nietleben as well as at the psychiatric and nerve clinic in Halle...

 (1858–1916) and Theodor Ziehen

Theodor Ziehen

Georg Theodor Ziehen was a German neurologist and psychiatrist born in Frankfurt am Main. He was the son of noted author, Eduard Ziehen ....

(1862–1950) called Handbuch der Nervenkrankheiten im Kindesalter.