Joseph von Lindwurm

Joseph von Lindwurm (1824 to 1874) was a German physician and dermatologist who became a professor at Munich. Born in Aschaffenburg, he studied medicine at Wurzburg and Heidelberg and took his doctorate in 1849, then worked as an assistant in the Wurzburg medical clinic before continuing his training in Vienna and Paris. In Paris he carried out inoculation experiments that showed secondary syphilis to be as contagious as primary syphilis. He became a lecturer at Munich in 1853, an associate professor in 1859 and in 1863 a full professor of dermatology and venereal diseases there, and in 1869 he took charge of the second medical clinic at the Munich general hospital. His writings included a German translation of William Stokes on diseases of the heart and aorta, a study of the diversity of syphilitic diseases and a plea for compulsory revaccination. A Munich street, the Lindwurmstrasse, is named in his honour. This entry follows the lead of the source article and records the career as it states it.