Carl von Voit (31 October 1831 – 31 January 1908) was a German

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out chemical and ...

and

dietitian A dietitian, medical dietitian, or dietician is an expert in identifying and treating disease-related malnutrition and in conducting medical nutrition therapy, for example designing an enteral tube feeding regimen or mitigating the effects of ...

Biography

Voit was born in

Amberg Amberg () is a Town#Germany, town in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in the Upper Palatinate about halfway between Regensburg and Bayreuth. History The town was first mentioned in 1034 with the name Ammenberg. It became an important trading c ...

, the son of August von Voit and Mathilde Burgett. From 1848 to 1854 he studied at the universities of

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

and

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...

. At Munich, his teachers were

Justus von Liebig Justus ''Freiherr'' von Liebig (12 May 1803 – 18 April 1873) was a Germans, German scientist who made major contributions to the theory, practice, and pedagogy of chemistry, as well as to agricultural and biology, biological chemistry; he is ...

and Max Joseph Pettenkofer, and at Würzburg, he was a pupil of Albert von Kölliker. In 1855 he furthered his education at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

under chemist Friedrich Wohler, and in 1856/57 served as an assistant to Theodor von Bischoff in Munich. In 1857, he obtained his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

, and from 1863 was a full professor of physiology, as well as curator of the physiological collection at the University of Munich.

Contributions

Carl von Voit is considered by many to be the "father" of modern dietetics. As a

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

and physiologist, he found that the amount of

nitrogen Nitrogen is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a Nonmetal (chemistry), nonmetal and the lightest member of pnictogen, group 15 of the periodic table, often called the Pnictogen, pnictogens. ...

in excreted

urea Urea, also called carbamide (because it is a diamide of carbonic acid), is an organic compound with chemical formula . This amide has two Amine, amino groups (–) joined by a carbonyl functional group (–C(=O)–). It is thus the simplest am ...

is a measure for the

protein turnover In cell biology, protein turnover refers to the replacement of older proteins as they are broken down within the cell. Different types of proteins have very different turnover rates. A balance between protein synthesis and protein degradation ...

. Using a respiration chamber, he could characterize the significance of individual nutrients, known as ''Voitsche Kostmaß''. He was also a successful teacher, attracting international students to the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

and thus significantly influencing the US nutritionist, among others. One of his better known German pupils was

Max Rubner Max Rubner (2 June 1854, Munich27 April 1932, Berlin) was a German physiologist and hygienist. Academic career He studied at the University of Munich and worked as an assistant under Adolf von Baeyer and Carl von Voit (doctorate 1878). Later ...

Personal life

In 1860, Voit married Laura von Hößlin (1831-1910) in Augsburg. She was the younger sister of his stepmother Ottilie. They had six children Karoline (b. 1862), Friedrich (1863–1944), Emilie (1864-1903; married name Steinheil), Bertha (b. 1866), Louise Auguste (b. 1868) and Johanna (b. 1870). His grand daughter via Emilie was Elsbeth Steinheil, the first German woman to graduate in mechanical engineering, qualifying in 1917 from the

Technical University of Munich The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; ) is a public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences. Established in 1868 by King Ludwig II ...

. Carl von Voit died in

on 31 January 1908. The German Nutrition Society has been awarding the Carl-von-Voit-medal since 1961.

Works

* ''Die Gesetze der Ernährung des Fleischfressers'' (Leipzig 1860) * ''Über die Wirkung des Kochsalzes, des Kaffees und der Muskelbewegung auf den Stoffwechsel'' (Munich 1860) * ''Über die Kost in öffentlichen Anstalten'' (Munich 1876) * ''Untersuchung der Kost in einigen öffentlichen Anstalten'' (Munich 1877) * ''Über die Entwickelung der Erkenntnis'' (Munich 1879) * ''Physiologie des allgemeinen Stoffwechsels und der Ernährung'' (volume 6, first section of

Ludimar Hermann Ludimar Hermann (October 31, 1838 – June 5, 1914) was a German physiology, physiologist and phonetics, speech scientist who used the Thomas Edison, Edison phonograph to test theories of vowel production, particularly those of Robert Willis ( ...

's "Handbuch der Physiologie", Leipzig 1881) * ''Zeitschrift für Biologie'' (as publisher, together with Ludwig von Buhl und Max von Pettenkofer)

References

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External links

* 1831 births 1908 deaths Dietitians People from Amberg German physiologists Science teachers Academic staff of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich {{Germany-biologist-stub