Bernhard Zondek (; 29 July 1891 – 8 November 1966) was a German-born

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

i gynecologist who developed the first reliable

pregnancy Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring gestation, gestates inside a woman's uterus. A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Conception (biology), Conception usually occurs ...

test in 1928.

Biography

Bernhard Zondek was born in Wronke,

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 ...

, now Wronki,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. He studied medicine in Berlin, graduating in 1919. He worked under Karl Franz at the university women's clinic in Berlin

Charité The Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Charité – Berlin University of Medicine; ) is Europe's List of hospitals by capacity, largest university hospital, affiliated with Humboldt University of Berlin, Humboldt University and the Free ...

, where he specialized in

obstetrics Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a su ...

and

gynecology Gynaecology or gynecology (see American and British English spelling differences) is the area of medicine concerned with conditions affecting the Female reproductive system, female reproductive system. It is often paired with the field of obste ...

. His older brother, Hermann Zondek, was a professor at the

Humboldt University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

and a pioneer of modern

endocrinology Endocrinology (from ''endocrine system, endocrine'' + ''wikt:-logy#Suffix, -ology'') is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions known as hormones. It is also concerned with the ...

Medical career

Germany

In 1926, he became

ausserordentlicher Professor Academic ranks in Germany are the titles, relative importance and power of professors, researchers, and administrative personnel held in academia. Overview Appointment grades * (Pay grade: ''W3'' or ''W2'') * (''W3'') * (''W2'') * (''W2'', ...

, and in 1929, chief physician of the obstetrics and gynecology ward at the municipal hospital of Berlin-Spandau. When the Nazis came to power in 1933, he was dismissed from his posts.

Sweden

He left Germany for

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, where he applied for permission to work as a physician in Sweden. Meanwhile, he started working as an unpaid scientist at the Biochemical Institute of

Stockholm University Stockholm University (SU) () is a public university, public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, social ...

. In September 1934 he turned directly to the Swedish king to get a practitioner's license. The

Swedish Medical Association The Swedish Medical Association (SMA) is the union and professional organization for medical doctors and medical students in Sweden. In the main, it deploys activities on behalf the Swedish doctors' employment conditions, ethics, working environm ...

were asked for their opinion, and while a narrow majority voted to grant him permission for

scientific work Scientific literature encompasses a vast body of academic papers that spans various disciplines within the natural and social sciences. It primarily consists of academic papers that present original empirical research and theoretical co ...

only (excluding him from clinical practice), the rest wanted to deny him permission altogether. When the media reported on the case, the chairman of the medical association wrote pieces discrediting Zondek and casting suspicion upon him in the media, and a protest against Zondek gathered over 1,000 practitioners' signatures, amounting to a third of the Swedish physicians. These expressions of hostility and Jew-hatred from his colleagues made Zondek decide that he could not stay in Sweden.

Israel

In the fall of 1934, he immigrated to

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

, where he was appointed professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

, and head of obstetrics and gynecology at Hadassah Hospital. He served as president of the Jerusalem Academy of Medicine. He retired from teaching and patient care in 1961, and devoted his time to private study.

Medical discoveries

Zondek was one of the proponents of the inter-dependence of the

endocrine gland The endocrine system is a network of glands and organs located throughout the body. Along with the nervous system, it makes the neuroendocrine system, which controls and regulates many of the body's functions. Endocrine glands are ductless gland ...

s under the control of the pituitary. His studies on pituitary-ovary interaction were instrumental in establishing this fundamental tenet. He discovered that the chorionic tissue of the

placenta The placenta (: placentas or placentae) is a temporary embryonic and later fetal organ that begins developing from the blastocyst shortly after implantation. It plays critical roles in facilitating nutrient, gas, and waste exchange between ...

had endocrine capacity and this led to diagnostic techniques important for the recognition and treatment of hydatidiform mole and chorionic carcinoma. His work with the

gynecologist Gynaecology or gynecology (see American and British English spelling differences) is the area of medicine concerned with conditions affecting the female reproductive system. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, which focuses on pre ...

Selmar Aschheim led to his

bioassay A bioassay is an analytical method to determine the potency or effect of a substance by its effect on animal testing, living animals or plants (''in vivo''), or on living cells or tissues (''in vitro''). A bioassay can be either quantal or quantit ...

for

human chorionic gonadotropin Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is a hormone for the maternal recognition of pregnancy produced by trophoblast cells that are surrounding a growing embryo (syncytiotrophoblast initially), which eventually forms the placenta after implantat ...

, originally using mice, known as the Aschheim-Zondek or A-Z test. Later variations on this test used rabbits or amphibians, leading to the phrase "the rabbit died" to describe the discovery of a new pregnancy using the

rabbit test The rabbit test, or Friedman test, was an early pregnancy test that required killing and dissecting a rabbit to obtain the results. The test was developed in 1931 by Maurice Friedman and Maxwell Edward Lapham at the University of Pennsylvania. ...

Awards and recognition

* In 1956, Zondek received the Solomon Bublick Award of the

. * In 1958, he was awarded the

Israel Prize The Israel Prize (; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History Prior to the Israel Prize, the most significant award in the arts was the Dizengoff Prize and in Israel ...

, in medicine.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zondek, Bernhard 1891 births 1966 deaths German gynaecologists Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Mandatory Palestine People from Wronki People from the Province of Posen Israeli endocrinologists Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Academic staff of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Israel Prize in medicine recipients Members of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities Solomon Bublick Award recipients 20th-century Israeli inventors Physicians of the Charité