Ludwig Edelstein (23 April 1902 – 16 August 1965) was a classical scholar and historian of medicine.

Personal life and career

Edelstein was born in

Berlin, Germany Berlin ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the highest population within its city limits of any city in the European Union. The city is also one of the states of ...

, to Isidor and Mathilde Adler Edelstein. He attended the

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 ...

from 1921 to 1924 and received his

Ph.D. 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 ...

at the

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

in 1929. He was married to Emma J. Levy on 25 Oct. 1928. Because he and his wife were

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

, Edelstein lost his academic position and had to flee from

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 1933 when the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

s came to power. Upon his arrival in the US in 1934, he took up an appointment at

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

. Subsequently, he taught at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

and the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

, from which he resigned rather than sign the

Levering Act The Levering Act (Cal. Gov. Code § 3100-3109) was a law enacted by the U.S. state of California in 1950. It required state employees to subscribe to a loyalty oath that specifically disavowed radical beliefs. It was aimed in particular at employees ...

loyalty oath Loyalty is a Fixation (psychology), devotion to a country, philosophy, group, or person. Philosophers disagree on what can be an object of loyalty, as some argue that loyalty is strictly interpersonal and only another human being can be the obj ...

. He then returned to Johns Hopkins, where he had appointments at the university in Philosophy and at the School of Medicine in History of Medicine. At the university he taught ancient Greek philosophy in undergraduate and graduate seminars and courses. Edelstein's 1943 translation and commentary on the Hippocratic Oath was influential on contemporary thinking about medical ethics. He was an inspiring and beloved teacher. Several of his Hopkins students became accomplished scholars. He retired from Hopkins and spent his last years at New York's Rockefeller Institute when it transformed from being a medical research institute into being a science university. He was elected to 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 1954.

Works

* ''The Hippocratic Oath: Text, Translation, Interpretation'' (1943) * ''Asclepius: Collection and Interpretation of the Testimonies'' (1945) with Emma J. Edelstein * ''Wielands "Abderiten" und der Deutsche Humanismus'' (1950) * ''Plato's Seventh Letter'' (1966) * ''The Idea of Progress in Classical Antiquity'' (1967) * ''The Meaning of Stoicism'' (1968) Martin Classical Lectures Volume XXI * ''Ancient Medicine: Selected Papers of Ludwig Edelstein'' (1967) edited by

Owsei Temkin Owsei Temkin (; October 6, 1902 – July 18, 2002) was William H. Welch Professor Emeritus of the History of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University. He was a Russian-born, German-educated, American medical historian. Early life and education Owsei ...

and C. Lilian Temkin * ''Posidonius: Volume I: The Fragments'' (1972) editor with Ian G. Kidd

References

External links

*
Oral history interview transcript with Ludwig Edelstein on 7 May 1962, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives
* Obituary by Malcolm L. Peterso

1902 births 1965 deaths Writers from Berlin German Ashkenazi Jews Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States People who lost German citizenship Naturalized citizens of the United States American people of German-Jewish descent American classical scholars American medical historians American scholars of ancient Greek philosophy Classical scholars of Johns Hopkins University 20th-century American historians American male non-fiction writers 20th-century American male writers {{US-med-historian-stub Members of the American Philosophical Society

Personal life and career

Works

See also

References

External links