Julius Wagner-Jauregg (; 7 March 1857 – 27 September 1940) was an Austrian

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

, who won the

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine () is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, acco ...

in 1927, and is the first psychiatrist to have done so. His Nobel award was "for his discovery of the therapeutic value of malaria inoculation in the treatment of dementia paralytica".

Early life

Julius Wagner-Jauregg was born Julius Wagner on 7 March 1857 in

Wels Wels (; Central Bavarian: ''Wös'') is a city in Upper Austria, on the Traun River near Linz. It is the county seat of Wels-Land, and with a population of approximately 60,000, the List of cities and towns in Austria, eighth largest city in Aus ...

Upper Austria Upper Austria ( ; ; ) is one of the nine States of Austria, states of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg (state), Salzbur ...

, the son of Adolph Johann Wagner and Ludovika Jauernigg Ranzoni."Physiology or medicine, 1922-1941"
Jan Lindsten. World Scientific, 1999. p. 170. , . His family name was changed to "Wagner von Jauregg" when his father was given the title of " Ritter von Jauregg" (a hereditary title of nobility) in 1883 by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Hence he retained the name Julius Wagner Ritter von Jauregg until 1918 when the empire was dissolved, and nobility was abolished. The family name was then contracted to "Wagner-Jauregg". He attended the Schottengymnasium in Vienna before going on to study

Medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

from 1874 to 1880, where he also studied with Salomon Stricker in the Institute of General and Experimental Pathology. He obtained his doctorate in 1880 with the thesis "L'origine et la fonction du cœur accéléré." He left the institute in 1882. After leaving the clinic, he conducted laboratory experiments with animals, which was practiced very little at this time. From 1883 to 1887 he worked with Maximilian Leidesdorf in the Psychiatric Clinic, although his original training was not in the pathology of the nervous system. In 1889 he succeeded the famous Richard von Krafft-Ebing at the Neuro-Psychiatric Clinic of the University of Graz, and started his research on Goitre, cretinism and

iodine Iodine is a chemical element; it has symbol I and atomic number 53. The heaviest of the stable halogens, it exists at standard conditions as a semi-lustrous, non-metallic solid that melts to form a deep violet liquid at , and boils to a vi ...

. In 1893 he became Extraordinary Professor of Psychiatry and Nervous Diseases, and Director of the Clinic for Psychiatry and Nervous Diseases in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, as successor to Theodor Meynert. A student and assistant of Wagner-Jauregg during this time was Constantin von Economo. Ten years later, in 1902, Wagner-Jauregg moved to the psychiatric clinic at the General Hospital and in 1911 he returned to his former post.

Criminal inquest

Wagner-Jauregg was angered by what he considered as the malingering of soldiers who claimed to be too mentally upset to return to the battlefield. He applied extreme electric shock therapy to these soldiers, which caused large numbers of deaths. After the end of the war, the German government opened an inquest into these activities, with the goal of prosecuting him criminally.

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating fro ...

intervened to save Wagner-Jauregg's career.

Nobel prize

The main work pursued by Wagner-Jauregg throughout his life was related to the treatment of

mental disease A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

by inducing a

fever Fever or pyrexia in humans is a symptom of an anti-infection defense mechanism that appears with Human body temperature, body temperature exceeding the normal range caused by an increase in the body's temperature Human body temperature#Fever, s ...

, an approach known as pyrotherapy. In 1887 he investigated the effects of febrile diseases on psychoses, making use of the streptococci that cause

erysipelas Erysipelas () is a relatively common bacterial infection of the superficial layer of the skin ( upper dermis), extending to the superficial lymphatic vessels within the skin, characterized by a raised, well-defined, tender, bright- red rash, ...

and

tuberculin Tuberculin, also known as purified protein derivative, is a combination of proteins that are used in the diagnosis of tuberculosis. This use is referred to as the tuberculin skin test and is recommended only for those at high risk. Reliable adm ...

(the latter discovered in 1890 by

Robert Koch Heinrich Hermann Robert Koch ( ; ; 11 December 1843 – 27 May 1910) was a German physician and microbiologist. As the discoverer of the specific causative agents of deadly infectious diseases including tuberculosis, cholera and anthrax, he i ...

). Since these methods of treatment did not work very well, he tried in 1917 the inoculation of

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

parasites, which proved to be very successful in the case of dementia paralytica (also called general paresis of the insane), caused by

neurosyphilis Neurosyphilis is the infection of the central nervous system by '' Treponema pallidum'', the bacterium that causes the sexually transmitted infection syphilis. In the era of modern antibiotics, the majority of neurosyphilis cases have been report ...

, at that time a terminal disease. It had been observed that some who develop high fevers would be cured of syphilis. Thus, from 1917 to the mid 1940s, malaria induced by the least aggressive parasite,

Plasmodium vivax ''Plasmodium vivax'' is a protozoal parasite and a human pathogen. This parasite is the most frequent and widely distributed cause of recurring malaria. Although it is less virulent than ''Plasmodium falciparum'', the deadliest of the five huma ...

, was used as treatment for tertiary syphilis because it produced prolonged and high fevers (a form of pyrotherapy). This was considered an acceptable risk because the malaria could later be treated with quinine, which was available at that time. This discovery earned him the

Nobel Prize in Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine () is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute, Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single ...

in 1927. His main publication was a book titled ''Verhütung und Behandlung der progressiven Paralyse durch Impfmalaria'' (Prevention and treatment of progressive paralysis by malaria inoculation) in the Memorial Volume of the Handbuch der experimentellen Therapie, (1931). The technique was known as malariotherapy; however, it was dangerous, killing about 15% of patients, so it is no longer in use. In 1935, he was awarded the

Cameron Prize for Therapeutics of the University of Edinburgh The Cameron Prize for Therapeutics of the University of Edinburgh is awarded by the University of Edinburgh College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine to a person who has made any highly important and v ...

Involuntary sterilizations

Wagner-Jauregg administered thyroid and ovarian preparations to young psychotic patients who had experienced delayed puberty, which led to the development of their secondary sexual characteristics and diminished psychosis. Other patients were deemed

schizophrenic 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 ...

because of excessive

masturbation Masturbation is a form of autoeroticism in which a person Sexual stimulation, sexually stimulates their own Sex organ, genitals for sexual arousal or other sexual pleasure, usually to the point of orgasm. Stimulation may involve the use of han ...

, where Wagner-Jauregg sterilized them, resulting in an "improved" condition.

Retirement

In 1928, Wagner-Jauregg retired from his post but remained active and in good health until his death on 27 September 1940. In his retirement he published nearly 80 scientific papers. Many schools, roads and hospitals are named after him in Austria.

Nazi ideology and affiliation

Towards his last days Wagner-Jauregg was influenced by

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

's German nationalism, and became an anti-Semite and sympathizer of Nazism. Documentary evidence indicates that he supported the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

shortly after the invasion of Austria in 1938 by Germany."The Trials of Masculinity: Policing Sexual Boundaries, 1870-1930"
Angus McLaren. University of Chicago Press, 1999. , . Retrieved March 16, 2010."A historical dictionary of psychiatry"
Edward Shorter. Oxford University Press US, 2005. p. 299. , "The complete idiot's guide to understanding the brain"
Arthur Bard, Mitchell Geoffrey Bard. Alpha Books, 2002. p. 49. , .Julius Wagner-Jauregg (1857-1940), Magda Whitrow. Smith-Gordon, 1993. p. 199. , . However, a

denazification Denazification () was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of the Nazi ideology following the Second World War. It was carried out by removing those who had been Nazi Par ...

commission in Austria found that his application for NSDAP membership had been refused "...on grounds of race", as his first wife Balbine Frumkin was Jewish."Vienna: a doctor's guide : 15 walking tours through Vienna's medical history"
Wolfgang Regal, Michael Nanut. Springer, 2007. p. 75. , . Wagner-Jauregg advocated a

racial hygiene The term racial hygiene was used to describe an approach to eugenics in the early 20th century, which found its most extensive implementation in Nazi Germany (Nazi eugenics). It was marked by efforts to avoid miscegenation, analogous to an anim ...

ideology called

eugenics Eugenics is a set of largely discredited beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter the frequency of various human phenotypes by inhibiting the fer ...

, influencing students such as Alexander Pilcz, who went on to author a standard handbook on racial psychiatry critical of Jews for being prone to mental illness. He was also an advocate of forced sterilization of the mentally ill and criminal, having endorsed the concept in 1935 while a member of the Austrian Anthropological Society. He was President of the Austrian League for Racial Regeneration and Heredity, which advocated sterilization for those of inferior genetics."Freud's foes: psychoanalysis, science, and resistance"
Kurt Jacobsen. Rowman & Littlefield, 2009. p. 105. 0742522636, 9780742522633.

References

External links

* * including the Nobel Lecture on December 13, 1927 ''The Treatment of Dementia Paralytica by Malaria Inoculation''
Nazi past
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wagner-Jauregg, Julius 1857 births 1940 deaths People from Wels Greater German People's Party politicians Austrian neuroscientists Austrian psychiatrists Austrian eugenicists Austrian Nazis Austrian neo-Nazis Austrian Nobel laureates Nobel laureates from Austria-Hungary Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine Malariologists Burials at the Vienna Central Cemetery 20th-century Austrian scientists Psychiatrists from Austria-Hungary