Heinrich von Ranke (8 May 1830,
Rückersdorf – 13 May 1909,
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 ...
) 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
pediatrician
Pediatrics (American English) also spelled paediatrics (British English), is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, pediatrics covers many of their youth ...
. He was the son of
theologian
Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...
Friedrich Heinrich Ranke (1798-1876) and the brother of
anthropologist
An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...
Johannes Ranke (1836-1916). Famed
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...
Leopold von Ranke
Leopold von Ranke (21 December 1795 – 23 May 1886) was a German historian and a founder of modern source-based history. He was able to implement the seminar teaching method in his classroom and focused on archival research and the analysis of ...
(1795-1886) was his uncle.
Biography
Ranke studied at the Universities of
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
,
Leipzig
Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...
,
Erlangen
Erlangen (; , ) is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative district Erlangen), and with 119,810 inhabitants (as of 30 September 2024), it is the smalle ...
, and
Tübingen
Tübingen (; ) is a traditional college town, university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer (Neckar), Ammer rivers. about one in ...
. At Erlangen, he was a student of the
chemist
A chemist (from Greek ''chÄ“m(Ãa)'' 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 ...
Eugen von Gorup-Besánez, and at Berlin, he was an assistant to physiologist
Johannes Peter Müller
Johannes Peter Müller (14 July 1801 – 28 April 1858) was a German physiologist, comparative anatomist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist, known not only for his discoveries but also for his ability to synthesize knowledge. The paramesonephri ...
(1849–50). In 1851 he obtained his doctorate with a dissertation involving physiological-chemical studies on the behaviour of some
organic substance
Some chemical authorities define an organic compound as a chemical compound that contains a Carbon–hydrogen bond, carbon–hydrogen or carbon–carbon bond; others consider an organic compound to be any chemical compound that contains carbon. F ...
s in humans.
[Plett - Schmidseder]
by K. G. Saur Verlag GmbH & Company, Walter De Gruyter Incorporated[translated biography]
at Pagel: Biographies excellent doctors of the nineteenth century. Berlin, Vienna 1901 Sp. 1344-1345.
From 1853 to 1858, he was associated with the German Hospital in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, during which time, he also served as a civilian physician in the service of the British government in
Smyrna
Smyrna ( ; , or ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna ...
and in the
Crimea
Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...
(1855–56). In 1859 he received his habilitation at 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 ...
, becoming an honorary professor in 1863. In 1866 he was appointed director of the children's polyclinic at the ''Reisingerianum'' in Munich. Here he worked together with
Max Sandreczky Max Sandreczky (1839–1899) was a German Christian pediatric surgeon who settled in Jerusalem with his father Carl Sandreczki in 1868, where in 1872 he established and ran the first pediatric hospital in Palestine. He became well known both for his ...
who became his assistant, and probably influenced Sandreczky's decision to dedicate his career to the care of children. In 1874 Ranke became an associate professor, and in 1886, was named as director of
Hauner's ''Kinderspital'' at the university.
[
]
Published works
* ''Physiologisch-chemische Untersuchungen über das Verhalten einiger organischer Stoffe im menschlichen Organismus nebst Versuchen über die diuretische Wirkung mehrerer Arzneimittel'', 1851 – Physiological-chemical studies on the behavior of some organic substances in the human organism, along with experiments on the diuretic
A diuretic () is any substance that promotes diuresis, the increased production of urine. This includes forced diuresis. A diuretic tablet is sometimes colloquially called a water tablet. There are several categories of diuretics. All diuretics ...
effect of several drugs.
* ''Acht Tage bei unseren Verwundeten in den entlegeneren Spitälern'', 1866.
* ''Studien zur Wirkung des Chloroforms, Aethers, Amylens'', 1867 – Studies on the effects of chloroform
Chloroform, or trichloromethane (often abbreviated as TCM), is an organochloride with the formula and a common solvent. It is a volatile, colorless, sweet-smelling, dense liquid produced on a large scale as a precursor to refrigerants and po ...
, ether
In organic chemistry, ethers are a class of compounds that contain an ether group, a single oxygen atom bonded to two separate carbon atoms, each part of an organyl group (e.g., alkyl or aryl). They have the general formula , where R and R†...
and amylene.
* ''Cholera-Infections-Versuche an weissen Mäusen'', 1874 – Cholera
Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...
infection experiments on white mice.
* ''Experimenteller Beweis der Möglichkeit der Selbstentzündung des Heues'' (Liebig's Annalen CLXVII), – Experimental evidence of the possibility of spontaneous combustion
Spontaneous combustion or spontaneous ignition is a type of combustion which occurs by self-heating (increase in temperature due to exothermic internal reactions), followed by thermal runaway (self heating which rapidly accelerates to high tem ...
of hay.
* ''Zur Aetiologie der Spina bifida'', 1878 – The aetiology of spina bifida
Spina bifida (SB; ; Latin for 'split spine') is a birth defect in which there is incomplete closing of the vertebral column, spine and the meninges, membranes around the spinal cord during embryonic development, early development in pregnancy. T ...
.
* ''Zur Münchener Canalisationsfrage'', 1879.[OCLC Classify]
published works
See also
*Max Sandreczky Max Sandreczky (1839–1899) was a German Christian pediatric surgeon who settled in Jerusalem with his father Carl Sandreczki in 1868, where in 1872 he established and ran the first pediatric hospital in Palestine. He became well known both for his ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ranke, Heinrich von
1830 births
1909 deaths
People from Nürnberger Land
Academic staff of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
German pediatricians
German physiologists