Armin Geus (; born 1937) is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

medical historian The medical history, case history, or anamnesis (from Greek: ἀνά, ''aná'', "open", and μνήσις, ''mnesis'', "memory") of a patient is a set of information the physicians collect over medical interviews. It involves the patient, and even ...

and historian of

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

Career

Geus received his academic education in

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

with a specialisation in

parasitology Parasitology is the study of parasites, their host (biology), hosts, and the relationship between them. As a List of biology disciplines, biological discipline, the scope of parasitology is not determined by the organism or environment in questio ...

.''Das Biohistoricum''
''Marburger UniJournal'', no. 8, January 2001 In 1964, he obtained his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

for a work on the

gregarinasina The gregarines are a group of Apicomplexan alveolates, classified as the Gregarinasina or Gregarinia. The large (roughly half a millimeter) parasites inhabit the intestines of many invertebrates. They are not found in any vertebrates. Gregarines ...

of Central European

arthropod Arthropods ( ) are invertebrates in the phylum Arthropoda. They possess an arthropod exoskeleton, exoskeleton with a cuticle made of chitin, often Mineralization (biology), mineralised with calcium carbonate, a body with differentiated (Metam ...

s. In 1973, he became professor for

history of medicine The history of medicine is both a study of medicine throughout history as well as a multidisciplinary field of study that seeks to explore and understand medical practices, both past and present, throughout human societies. The history of med ...

at the

University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg () is a public research university located in Marburg, Germany. It was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Prote ...

, a post he held until his retirement. In 1976, Geus founded the '' Basilisken-Presse'', a publishing house specialized in the

history of science The history of science covers the development of science from ancient history, ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natural science, natural, social science, social, and formal science, formal. Pr ...

, particularly the history of biology. In 1991, he established the ''Deutsche Gesellschaft für Geschichte und Theorie der Biologie'' ("German society for the history and theory of biology"). In 1998, the society was developed into the '' Biohistoricum'', a biology museum with a research archive that is considered the only institution of its kind in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. In 2008, Geus published a collection of essays critical of

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

entitled ''Gegen die feige Neutralität'' ("Against coward neutrality") with contributions by a number of German academics and journalists, including Karl Doehring,

Ralph Giordano Ralph Giordano (23 March 1923 – 10 December 2014) was a German writer and publicist. Life and career Giordano was born to a Sicilian father and a German Jewish mother in Hamburg. He attended the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums from 1933 to ...

, Michael Miersch and Tilman Nagel. In 2011, Geus published his work ''Die Krankheit des Propheten'' ("The sickness of the prophet") which he said examined the pathography of

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

, the founder of Islam, from a medical point of view. Geus attests Muhammad a "paranoid-hallucinatory

schizophrenia Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...

with defined delusional imaginings and characteristic sensual deceptions". Thomas Junker
''Rezension von Armin Geus: Die Krankheit des Propheten (2011)''
, ''Thomas Junker Website'', 2011, retrieved 18 January 2013 The book ranked in the top ten non-fiction list of the

Süddeutsche Zeitung The ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' (; ), published in Munich, Bavaria, is one of the largest and most influential daily newspapers in Germany. The tone of ''SZ'' is mainly described as centre-left, liberal, social-liberal, progressive-liberal, and ...

and

Norddeutscher Rundfunk (; "North German Broadcasting"), commonly shortened to NDR (), is a public broadcasting, public radio and television broadcaster, based in Hamburg. In addition to the city-state of Hamburg, NDR broadcasts for the German states of Lower Saxony, ...

in June 2011, receiving a number of reviews from colleagues and in the press. A subsequent lawsuit by the

Saudi Saudi or Saudi Arabian may refer to: * Saudi Arabia * Saudis, people from Saudi Arabia * Saudi culture, the culture of Saudi Arabia * House of Saud, the ruling family of Saudi Arabia See also *Saud (disambiguation) The House of Saud The H ...

-financed King Fahd Academy in

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

with reference to the German blasphemy law was dismissed by the

Marburg Marburg (; ) is a college town, university town in the States of Germany, German federal state () of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf Districts of Germany, district (). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has ...

state prosecutor in October 2010, after Geus' defence team had invoked the

academic freedom Academic freedom is the right of a teacher to instruct and the right of a student to learn in an academic setting unhampered by outside interference. It may also include the right of academics to engage in social and political criticism. Academic ...

guaranteed by the

German constitution The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany () is the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany. The West German Constitution was approved in Bonn on 8 May 1949 and came into effect on 23 May after having been approved by the oc ...

. In September 2012, the anti-Islam organisation

Citizens' Movement Pax Europa The Citizens' Movement Pax Europa (, BPE) is a German anti-Islam, counter-jihad organisation. It was formed in 2008 from the merger of two previous groups, the Federal Association of Citizens' Movements (, BDB) formed in 2003, and Pax Europa for ...

had brought the case, which it said was an attempt at "silencing" critical scholars, to an

OSCE The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the pr ...

human rights conference at Warsaw.''Statement by Bürgerbewegung Pax Europa. Freedom of expression – Silencing intellectuals''
(PDF S.7), ''

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the p ...

'', 24 September 2012, retrieved 18 January 2013

Selected works

* ''Festschrift der Naturwissenschaftlichen Gesellschaft Bayreuth, 1889-1964'', Bayreuth: Naturwissenschaftliche Gesellschaft, 1964 * ''Krankheit und Kranksein in der Gegenwartskunst'', Marburg an der Lahn: Basilisken-Presse, 1985, * ''Johannes Ranke (1836-1916): Physiologe, Anthropologe u. Prähistoriker'', Marburg an der Lahn: Basilisken-Presse, 1987, * ''Deutsche Zoologische Gesellschaft: 1890-1990'', Stuttgart: Fischer Verlag, 1990 (co-author), * ''Miscellen zur Geschichte der Biologie'', Frankfurt am Main: Kramer, 1994 (editor), * ''Natur im Druck. Eine Ausstellung zur Geschichte und Technik des Naturselbstdrucks'', Marburg an der Lahn: Basilisken-Presse, 1995 (co-author), * ''Repräsentationsformen in den biologischen Wissenschaften'', Berlin: Verlag für Wissenschaft und Bildung, 1999 (editor), * ''Evolution durch Kooperation und Integration: zur Entstehung der Endosymbiosetheorie in der Zellbiologie'', Marburg an der Lahn: Basilisken-Presse, 2007, * ''Gegen die feige Neutralität: Beiträge zur Islamkritik'', Marburg an der Lahn: Basilisken-Presse, 2008 (co-editor), * ''Die Krankheit des Propheten'', Marburg an der Lahn: Basilisken-Presse, 2011,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geus, Armin German medical historians Academic staff of the University of Marburg 1937 births Living people German male non-fiction writers Historians of biology