Hermann Lebert (born ''Hermann Lewy''; 9 June 1813 – 1 August 1878) was a German physician and naturalist.
Biography
Lebert was born in
Breslau. He studied medicine and the natural sciences first in Berlin and later in
Zürich
Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
under
Johann Lukas Schönlein. After he received his medical doctorate (Zürich, 1834), he traveled throughout Switzerland, studying botany. For the next year and a half he studied in Paris, particularly under
Baron Guillaume Dupuytren and
Pierre Charles Alexandre Louis. In 1838 he settled in
Bex, later changing between Bex and Paris. From 1842 to 1845 he worked mainly in
comparative anatomy
Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of different species. It is closely related to evolutionary biology and phylogeny (the evolution of species).
The science began in the classical era, continuing in t ...
, which had interested him during his travels as a student on the coast of
Normandy
Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy.
Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...
and the
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...
with
Charles-Philippe Robin. On a government assignment, he collected specimens for
Musée Orfila. After a stay in Berlin during the winter of 1845–1846 Lebert settled in Paris, where he devoted his efforts to both his practice and scientific work. In 1853 he accepted an invitation to become professor of clinical medicine in Zürich, and six years later he moved on to
Breslau, where he held the same job. In 1862, he was elected as a member of the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...
.
In 1874 he returned to
Bex, Switzerland, where he spent the rest of his life.
Lebert was among the first to use the microscope in pathological anatomy, and thus contributed importantly to both
pathology
Pathology is the study of disease. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in the context of modern medical treatme ...
and clinical medicine.
Selected writings
* ''Physiologie pathologique''. 2 volumes and atlas. Paris, Baillière, 1845. (An early work on pathological
histology
Histology,
also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, is the branch of biology that studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissue (biology), tissues. Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy, which looks at large ...
that was instrumental in introducing the cellular idea of pathology).
* ''Traité d’anatomie pathologique générale et spéciale''. 2 volumes. Paris, Baillière, 1857 and 1861. (Known for its excellent hand-coloured copperplate engravings of macro- and micropathology).
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
''Hermann Lebert''@
Who Named It
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lebert, Hermann
1813 births
1878 deaths
19th-century German physicians
German pathologists
German arachnologists
Academic staff of the University of Breslau
Academic staff of the University of Zurich
University of Zurich alumni
19th-century Swiss physicians
Prussian physicians
Naturalists from the Kingdom of Prussia
19th-century German naturalists
Emigrants from the Kingdom of Prussia
Immigrants to Switzerland
International members of the American Philosophical Society