Rudolf Ludwig Karl Virchow (13 October 1821 – 5 September 1902) was a
German doctorMedicine is the art and science of healing. It encompasses a range of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
,
anthropologistAnthropology is the study of human beings, everywhere and throughout time....
, public health activist,
pathologistPathology is the study and diagnosis of disease through examination of organs, tissues, bodily fluids, and whole bodies...
, prehistorian,
biologistA biologist is a scientist devoted to and producing results in biology through the study of life.Typically biologists study organisms and their relationship to their environment. Biologists involved in basic research attempt to discover underlying mechanisms that govern how organisms work...
and
politicianA politician or political leader is an individual who is involved in influencing public decision making. This includes people who hold decision-making positions in government, and people who seek those positions, whether by means of election, coup d'état, appointment, electoral fraud, conquest,...
. He is referred to as the "Father of Pathology," and founded the field of
Social MedicineThe field of social medicine seeks to: understand how social and economic conditions impact health, disease and the practice of medicine and foster conditions in which this understanding can lead to a healthier society....
.
Medical terms named after Virchow
- Virchow's angle, the angle between the nasobasilar line and the nasosubnasal line.
- Virchow's cell, a macrophage in Hansen's disease.
- Virchow's cell theory, "omnis cellula e cellula" - every living cell comes from another living cell.
- Virchow's concept of pathology, comparison of diseases common to humans and animals.
- Virchow's disease, leontiasis ossea
Leontiasis Ossea, also known as leontiasis or lion face, is a rare medical condition, characterized by an overgrowth of the facial and cranial bones...
, now recognized as a symptom rather an disorder.
- Virchow's gland, Virchow's node
In medicine , Virchow's node is an enlarged, hard, left supraclavicular lymph node which can contain metastasis of visceral malignancy.-Clinical significance:...
.
- Virchow's Law, during craniosynostosis
Craniosynostosis, is a medical condition in which some or all of the sutures in the skull of an infant or child close too early, causing problems with normal brain and skull growth. It can result in craniostenosis, which is the skull deformity caused by the premature closure of the cranial sutures...
, skull growth is restricted to a plane perpendicular to the affected, prematurely fused suture and is enhanced in a plane parallel to it.
- Virchow's line, a line from the root of the nose to the lambda
The occipital angle is rounded and corresponds with the point of meeting of the sagittal and lambdoidal sutures—a point which is termed the lambda ; in the fetus this part of the skull is membranous, and is called the posterior fontanelle....
.
- Virchow's metamorphosis, lipomatosis
Lipomatosis is a hereditary condition where multiple lipomas are present on the body.* Virchow's metamorphosis — lipomatosis in the heart and salivary glands.-See also:* Pelvic lipomatosis* Rudolf Virchow...
in the heartThe heart is a muscular organ found in all vertebrates that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions...
and salivary glands.
- Virchow's method of autopsy, a method of autopsy where each organ is taken out one by one.
- Virchow's node
In medicine , Virchow's node is an enlarged, hard, left supraclavicular lymph node which can contain metastasis of visceral malignancy.-Clinical significance:...
, the presence of metastatic cancer in a lymph-node in the supraclavicular fossa (root of the neck left of the midline). Also known as Troisier's signTroisier's sign is finding a hard, enlarged, left supraclavicular lymph node. Said to be pathognomonic of abdominal cancers, in particular gastric cancer.Virchow's node is the node commonly palpated for to elicit Troisier's sign....
.
- Virchow's psammoma, pasmmoma bodies
A psammoma body is a round collection of calcium, seen microscopically. The term is derived from the Greek word psammos meaning "sand."-Etiology:...
in meningiomaMeningiomas are the second most common primary tumor of the central nervous system, arising from the arachnoid "cap" cells of the arachnoid villi in the meninges. These tumors are usually benign in nature; however, they can be malignant.-Causes:...
s.
- Virchow-Robin spaces
Virchow-Robin spaces, or enlarged perivascular spaces are spaces that surround blood vessels for a short distance as they enter the brain...
, enlarged perivascular spaces (EPVS) (often only potential) that surround blood vessels for a short distance as they enter the brain.
- Virchow-Seckel syndrome
Virchow-Seckel syndrome is a syndrome of unknown etiology, characterized by intrauterine growth retardation and postnatal dwarfism with a small head, narrow bird-like face with a beak-like nose, large eyes with an antimongoloid slant, receding mandible, and mild mental...
, a very rare disease also known as "bird-headed dwarfism".
- Virchow's triad
Virchow's triad the three broad categories of factors that are thought to contribute to thrombosis.*Hypercoagulability*Hemodynamic changes *Endothelial injury/dysfunctionIt is named for German physician Rudolf Virchow...
, factors contributing toward venous thrombus formation.
- Some terms from Dorland's Medical Dictionary (1938
Scientific career
From a farming family, Virchow studied chemistry in Berlin at the Military Academy of
PrussiaPrussia was a historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries this state had substantial influence on German and European history...
on a scholarship. When he graduated in 1842 he went to serve as
Robert FroriepRobert Friedrich Froriep was a German anatomist who was a native of Jena. He was the father of anatomist August von Froriep ....
's assistant. One of his major contributions to German medical education was to encourage the use of microscopes by medical students and was known for constantly urging his students to 'think microscopically'. The campus where this Charité hospital is located is named after him, the Campus Virchow Klinikum.
Virchow is credited with multiple important discoveries. Virchow's most widely known scientific contribution is his cell theory, which built on the work of
Theodor Schwann----Theodor Schwann was a German physiologist. His many contributions to biology include the development of cell theory, the discovery of Schwann cells in the peripheral nervous system, the discovery and study of pepsin, the discovery of the organic nature of yeast, and the invention of the term...
. He is cited as the first to recognize
leukemiaLeukemia is a cancer of the blood or bone marrow and is characterized by an abnormal proliferation of blood cells, usually white blood cells . Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
cells. He was one of the first to accept and
plagiarizePlagiarism, as defined in the 1995 Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary, is the "use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work." Within academia, plagiarism by students, professors, or researchers is considered...
the work of
Robert RemakRobert Remak was a Polish/German embryologist, physiologist, and neurologist, born in Posen, Prussia. Dr. Remak obtained his medical degree from Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin in 1838 specializing in neurology. He is best known for reducing Karl Ernst von Baer's four germ layers to three:...
who showed that the origins of cells was the division of preexisting cells.. This Virchow encaspulated in the epigram
Omnis cellula e cellula ("every cell originates from another existing cell like it.") which he published in 1858. (The
epigramAn Epigram is a brief, clever, and usually memorable statement. Derived from the "to write on - inscribe", the literary device has been employed for over two millennia....
was actually coined by
François-Vincent RaspailFrançois-Vincent Raspail was a French chemist, naturalist, physiologist, and socialist politician.-Biography:...
but popularized by Virchow). It is a rejection of the concept of spontaneous generation, which held that organisms could arise from non-living matter. It was believed, for example, that maggots could spontaneously appear in decaying meat;
Francesco RediFrancesco Redi was an Italian physician.He is most well-known for his series of experiments, published in 1668 as Esperienze Intorno alla Generazione degl'Insetti which is regarded as one of the first steps in refuting "spontaneous generation" - a theory also known as Aristotelian...
carried out experiments which disproved this. Redi's work gave rise to the maxim Omne vivum ex ovo ("every living thing comes from a living thing" [literally, "from an egg"]), Virchow (and his predecessors) extended this to state that the only source for a living cell was another living cell.
Another significant credit relates to the discovery, made approximately simultaneously by Virchow and
Charles Emile TroisierCharles Emile Troisier was a French doctor.The following are named for him:* Troisier's sign, a hard, enlarged, left supraclavicular lymph node.* Troisier-Hanot-Chauffard syndrome, a form of diabetes mellitus...
, that an enlarged left supra-clavicular node is one of the earliest signs of gastrointestinal malignancy, commonly of the stomach, or less commonly, lung cancer. This has become known as
Virchow's nodeIn medicine , Virchow's node is an enlarged, hard, left supraclavicular lymph node which can contain metastasis of visceral malignancy.-Clinical significance:...
and simultaneously
Troisier's signTroisier's sign is finding a hard, enlarged, left supraclavicular lymph node. Said to be pathognomonic of abdominal cancers, in particular gastric cancer.Virchow's node is the node commonly palpated for to elicit Troisier's sign....
.
Virchow is also famous for elucidating the mechanism of pulmonary thromboembolism, coining the term
embolismIn medicine, an embolism occurs when an object migrates from one part of the body and causes a blockage of a blood vessel in another part of the body. The term was coined in 1848 by Rudolph Carl Virchow...
. He noted that blood clots in the pulmonary artery originate first from venous thrombi, stating: "The detachment of larger or smaller fragments from the end of the softening thrombus which are carried along by the current of blood and driven into remote vessels. This gives rise to the very frequent process on which I have bestowed the name of Embolia." Related to this research, Virchow described the factors contributing to venous thrombosis,
Virchow's triadVirchow's triad the three broad categories of factors that are thought to contribute to thrombosis.*Hypercoagulability*Hemodynamic changes *Endothelial injury/dysfunctionIt is named for German physician Rudolf Virchow...
.
Furthermore, Virchow founded the medical fields of cellular pathology and comparative pathology (comparison of diseases common to
humanHumans are bipedal primates belonging to the species Homo sapiens in Hominidae, the great ape family. They are the only surviving member of the genus Homo. Humans have a highly developed brain, capable of abstract reasoning, language, introspection, and problem solving...
s and
animalAnimals are a major group of mostly multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously...
s). His very innovative work may be viewed as sitting between that of
MorgagniGiovanni Battista Morgagni , was an Italian anatomist, celebrated as the father of the modern anatomical pathology. -Education:...
whose work Virchow studied, and that of
Paul EhrlichPaul Ehrlich was a German scientist in the fields of hematology, immunology, and chemotherapy, and Nobel laureate. He is noted for curing syphilis and for his research in autoimmunity, calling it "horror autotoxicus"...
, who studied at the Charité while Virchow was developing microscopic pathology there.
In 1869 he founded the Society for anthropology,
ethnologyEthnology is the branch of anthropology that compares and analyzes the origins, distribution, technology, religion, language, and social structure of the ethnic, racial, and/or national divisions of humanity.-Scientific Discipline:Compared to ethnography, the study of single groups through direct...
and
prehistoryPrehistory is a term used to describe the period before recorded history. Paul Tournal originally coined the term Pré-historique in describing the finds he had made in the caves of southern France...
(Gesellschaft für Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte) which was very influential in coordinating and intensifying German archaeological research. In 1885 he launched a study of
craniometryCraniometry is the technique of measuring the bones of the skull.It is distinct from phrenology, the study of personality and character, and physiognomy, the study of facial features...
, which gave surprising results according to contemporary
scientific racistScientific racism is the use of scientific or ostensibly scientific findings and methods to investigate differences between races, often to support or validate racist attitudes and worldviews. It is based on belief in the existence and significance of racial categories, typically with a hierarchy...
theories on the "
Aryan raceThe Aryan race is a concept historically influential in European culture in the period of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It derives from the idea that the original speakers of the Indo-European languages and their descendants up to the present day constitute a distinctive race...
", leading him to denounce the "Nordic mysticism" in the 1885 Anthropology Congress in
KarlsruheKarlsruhe is a city in the south west of Germany, in the Bundesland Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border....
. Josef Kollmann , a collaborator of Virchow, stated in the same congress that the people of Europe, be them German, Italian, English or French, belonged to a "mixture of various races," furthermore declaring that the "results of craniology" led to "struggle against any theory concerning the superiority of this or that European race" on others .
In 1892 he was awarded the
Copley MedalThe Copley Medal is an award given by the Royal Society of London for "outstanding achievements in research in any branch of science, and alternates between the physical sciences and the biological sciences"...
.
He was a very prolific writer. Some of his works are:
- Mittheilungen über die in Oberschlesien herrschende Typhus-Epidemie, (1848)
- Die Cellularpathologie in ihrer Begründung auf physiologische und pathologische Gewebelehre., (1858), English translation, (1860)
- Handbuch der speciellen Pathologie und Therapie, (1854-62)
- Vorlesungen über Pathologie, (1862-72)
- Die krankhaften Geschwülste, (1863-67)
- Gegen den Antisemitismus, (1880)
He also developed a standard method of
autopsyAn autopsy–also known as a post-mortem examination, necropsy , autopsia cadaverum, or obduction–is a medical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse to determine the cause and manner of death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present...
procedure, named for him, that is still one of the two main techniques used today.
More than a laboratory physician, Virchow was an impassioned advocate for social and political reform, stating that physicians should act as "attorneys for the poor." His views are evident in his "Report on the
TyphusEpidemic typhus is a form of typhus so named because the disease often causes epidemics following wars and natural disasters...
Outbreak of
Upper SilesiaUpper Silesia is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia; Lower Silesia is to the northwest. Since the 9th century, Upper Silesia has been part of Greater Moravia, Bohemia, Poland, Holy Roman Empire, Austria, Prussia, and later of unified German Reich...
(1848), "writing that the outbreak could not be solved by treating individual patients with drugs or with minor changes in food, housing, or clothing laws, but only through radical action to promote the advancement of an entire population.
He is widely regarded as a pioneer of
social medicineThe field of social medicine seeks to: understand how social and economic conditions impact health, disease and the practice of medicine and foster conditions in which this understanding can lead to a healthier society....
. and anthropology."
Hostility toward antiseptics
Despite these many accomplishments in medicine, Virchow's reputation is blackened by his rejection of and hostility towards the theory that bacteria cause disease. His attacks on
Ignaz SemmelweisIgnaz Philipp Semmelweis , also Ignac Semmelweis ,was a Hungarian physician called the "savior of mothers"who discovered, by 1847,...
's advocacy of antisepsis delayed the use of antiseptics.
He died of heart failure. Virchow was buried in the St Matthews Cemetery in
SchönebergSchöneberg is a locality of Berlin, Germany. Until Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it was a separate borough including the locality of Friedenau. Together with the former borough of Tempelhof it is now part of the new borough of Tempelhof-Schöneberg....
,
BerlinBerlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city and the eighth most populous urban area in the European Union...
.A
Opposition to Darwinism
Virchow famously delivered an anti-Darwinian lecture on Menschen- und Affenschadel in which he emphasized the lack of fossil evidence for a common ancestor of man and ape.
Political career
Virchow also worked as a politician (member of the Berlin City Council, the Prussian parliament since 1861, German
ReichstagThe Reichstag was the parliament of the Holy Roman Empire, and subsequently of the North German Confederation, and of Germany until 1945...
1880-1893) to improve the health care conditions for the Berlin citizens, namely working towards modern water and sewer systems. Virchow is also credited with the founding of "
Social MedicineThe field of social medicine seeks to: understand how social and economic conditions impact health, disease and the practice of medicine and foster conditions in which this understanding can lead to a healthier society....
", frequently focusing on the fact that disease is never purely biological, but often, socially derived. As a co-founder and member of the liberal party (
Deutschen Fortschrittspartei) he was a leading political antagonist of
BismarckOtto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck was a Prussian German statesman and aristocrat of the 19th century. As Ministerpräsident of Prussia from 1862–1890, he oversaw the unification of Germany. In 1867 he became Chancellor of the North German Confederation...
.
It is said (though not confirmed) that Otto von Bismarck challenged Rudolf Virchow to a duel. Virchow, who as the challenged party had the choice of weapons, chose two sausages, one of which had been inoculated with
choleraCholera, sometimes known as Asiatic or epidemic cholera, is an infectious gastroenteritis caused by enterotoxin-producing strains of the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. Transmission to humans occurs through eating food or drinking water contaminated with Vibrio cholerae from other cholera patients...
. Bismarck is said to have called off the duel at once.
One area where he co-operated with Bismarck was in the
KulturkampfThe German term refers to German policies in relation to secularity and the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, enacted from 1871 to 1878 by the Chancellor of the German Empire, Otto von Bismarck....
, the anti-clerical campaign against the Catholic Church claiming that the anti-clerical laws bore "the character of a great struggle in the interest of humanity". It was during the discussion of
Falk’sPaul Ludwig Adalbert Falk was a German politician.Falk was born at Metschkau , Silesia. In 1847 he entered the Prussian state service, and in 1853 became public prosecutor at Lyck . In 1858 he was elected a deputy, joining the Old Liberal party...
May Laws (Maigesetze) that Virchow first used the term.
Virchow was respected in Masonic circles, and according to one source may have been a freemason, though no official record of this has been found.
The Society for Medical Anthropology gives an annual award in Virchow's name,
Rudolph Virchow Award- About the Award :The Rudolf Virchow Awards are given by the Critical Anthropology for Global Health Study Group, a special interest group of Society for Medical Anthropology...
.
Further reading
- Becher, Rudolf Virchow, Berlin, (1891)
- J. L. Pagel, Rudolf Virchow, Leipzig, (1906)
- Erwin H. Ackerknecht, Rudolf Virchow: Doctor, Statesman, Anthropologist, Madison, (1953)
- Virchow, RLK (1978) Cellular pathology. 1859 special ed., 204-207 John Churchill London, UK., available at Project Gutenburg (co-authored by Virchow with Tomás Comyn, Fedor Jagor, and Chas Wilkes)
- (1) Rudolf Virchow, Menschen- und Affenschadeh Vortrag gehalten am 18. Febr. 1869 im Saale des Berliner Handwerkervereins. Berlin: Luderitz, (1870)
External links
- Becher, Former Philippines thru Foreign Eyes, available at Project Gutenburg (co-authored by Virchow with Tomás Comyn, Fedor Jagor, and Chas Wilkes)
- Short biography and bibliography in the Virtual Laboratory
The online project Virtual Laboratory. Essays and Resources on the Experimentalization of Life, 1830-1930, located at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, is dedicated to research in the history of the experimentalization of life...
of the Max Planck Institute for the History of ScienceThe Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin was established in March 1994. Its research is primarily devoted to a theoretically oriented history of science, principally of the natural sciences, but with methodological perspectives drawn from the cognitive sciences and from...
- Students and Publications of Virchow
- A biography of Virchow at Whonamedit.com, including phenomena named
An eponym is the name of a person, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named. One who is referred to as eponymous is someone who gives his or her name to something, e.g...
after him
- A biography of Virchow by the American Association of Neurological Surgeons that deals with his early work in Cerebrovascular Pathology
- An English translation of the complete 1848 Report on the Typhus Epidemic in Upper Silesia is available in the February 2006 edition of the journal Social Medicine
- Some places and memories related to Rudolf Virchow