Max Rothmann (April 26, 1868 – August 12, 1915) was a German

neuroanatomist Neuroanatomy is the study of the structure and organization of the nervous system. In contrast to animals with radial symmetry, whose nervous system consists of a distributed network of cells, animals with bilateral symmetry have segregated, defi ...

and

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...

who was a native of

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

Biography

He was born on April 26, 1868, in Berlin, into a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family. His father Oskar Rothmann (1834-1915) was the physician and "Sanitätsrat". He studied medicine in Berlin and

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...

. In 1889 he earned his medical doctorate at Berlin. In 1891 he worked in

Carl Weigert Karl Weigert, Carl Weigert (19 March 1845 in Münsterberg in Silesia – 5 August 1904 in Frankfurt am Main) was a German Jewish pathologist. His nephew was Fritz Weigert and his cousin was Paul Ehrlich. He received his education at the uni ...

's laboratory, then he was an assistant to Albert Fraenkel in ''Krankenhaus am Urban''. Rothmann was the catalyst concerning the establishment of an

anthropological Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...

research station in the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Mo ...

, which was subsequently founded at

Orotava Orotava is a genus of tephritid or fruit flies in the family Tephritidae. Species *'' Orotava cribrata'' ( Bigot, 1891) *''Orotava hamula ''Orotava hamula'' is a species of tephritid or fruit flies in the genus ''Orotava'' of the family Tep ...

Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the Archipelago, archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitant ...

in 1913 with Eugen Teuber (1889-1958) as its first director.

Wolfgang Köhler Wolfgang Köhler (21 January 1887 – 11 June 1967) was a German psychologist and phenomenologist who, like Max Wertheimer and Kurt Koffka, contributed to the creation of Gestalt psychology. During the Nazi regime in Germany, he protes ...

was an important scientific colleague at the Tenerife-Institute. In 1914, Rothmann became director of ''Neurologisches Centralblatt''. In August, 1915, at the age of 47, Rothmann committed suicide. He was buried in ''Jüdischer Friedhof Schönhauser Allee'', Berlin-Pankow. Obituaries were written by

Louis Jacobsohn-Lask Louis Jacobsohn-Lask (born Louis Jacobsohn; 2 March 1863, in Bromberg – 17 May 1941, in Sevastopol) was a German neurologist and neuroanatomist. He studied medicine at the University of Berlin under Heinrich Wilhelm Waldeyer, Rudolf Virchow, ...

(1863-1940),

Hermann Oppenheim Hermann Oppenheim (1 January 1858 – 5 May 1919) was one of the leading neurologists in Germany. Life and work Oppenheim is the son of Juda Oppenheim (1824–1891), the long-time rabbi of the Warburg synagogue community , and his wife, Cäcil ...

Hugo Liepmann Hugo Karl Liepmann (April 9, 1863 – May 6, 1925) was a German neurologist and psychiatrist born in Berlin, into a Jewish family. Initially, he studied both chemistry and philosophy at the Universities of Freiburg and Leipzig, obtaining h ...

and

Smith Ely Jelliffe Smith Ely Jelliffe (October 27, 1866 – September 25, 1945) was an American neurologist, psychiatrist, and psychoanalyst. He lived and practiced in New York City nearly his entire life. Originally trained in botany and pharmacy, Jelliffe switched ...

Family

Max Rothmann was married to Anna Neumann (1871–1936); they had at least four children. Elder son Otto (1896–1914) was killed in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. Hans (1899–1970) studied medicine and continued some of neuroanatomical works of his father; he emigrated to USA. Daughter Eva Rothmann (1897–1960) was psychologist and married

Kurt Goldstein Kurt Goldstein (November 6, 1878 – September 19, 1965) was a German neurologist and psychiatrist who created a holistic theory of the organism. Educated in medicine, Goldstein studied under Carl Wernicke and Ludwig Edinger where he focused on ne ...

.Gregory A. Kimble, Michael Wertheimer: Portraits of Pioneers in Psychology: Volume V. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2003, pp. 133, 137, 138. The second daughter was Grete Rothmann-Arons.

Legacy

His name is lent to "Rothmann-Makai

panniculitis Panniculitis is a group of diseases whose hallmark is inflammation of subcutaneous adipose tissue (the fatty layer under the skin – panniculus adiposus). Symptoms include tender skin nodules, and systemic signs such as weight loss and fatigue. ...

", which is a disease named along with Hungarian surgeon Endre Makai (1884-1972). This disorder is sometimes referred to as lipo granulomatosis subcutanea, and is a rare variant of

Weber–Christian disease Weber–Christian disease, is a cutaneous condition characterized by recurrent subcutaneous nodules that heal with depression of the overlying skin. It is a type of panniculitis. It is a rare disease seen in females 30–60 years of age. It is a ...

References

* ''This article is based on a translation of an article from the Polish Wikipedia.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Rothmann, Max 19th-century German Jews German neurologists German physiologists Scientists from Berlin 1868 births 1915 suicides 1915 deaths Suicides in Germany