Paul Diepgen (24 November 1878 – 2 January 1966) was a German

gynecologist Gynaecology or gynecology (see American and British English spelling differences) is the area of medicine concerned with conditions affecting the female reproductive system. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, which focuses on pre ...

and historian of medicine. He was born in

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

. Diepgen studied medicine at the universities of

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 ...

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 ...

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

and

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

, receiving his doctorate in 1902 with the dissertation ''Über zwei Fälle von Thorakopagus''. From 1905 he worked as an assistant at the university women's clinic in Freiburg, and in 1910 he obtained his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

under the direction of

Ludwig Aschoff Karl Albert Ludwig Aschoff (10 January 1866 – 24 June 1942) was a German physician and pathologist. He is considered to be one of the most influential pathologists of the early 20th century and is regarded as the most important German patholo ...

. In 1915 he became an associate professor, and from 1919 to 1929 he served as chief physician at the Lorettokrankenhaus in Freiburg.Paul Diepgen
Verzeichnis der Professorinnen und Professoren der Universität Mainz In 1929 he transferred as a professor to 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 ...

, and for 17 years was director of the Institut für Geschichte der Medizin und Naturwissenschaften (Institute for the History of Medicine and Natural Sciences). In 1947 he was named a

visiting professor In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting scientist, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic fo ...

for the history of medicine at the

University of Mainz The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz () is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany. It has been named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. it had approximately 32,000 students enrolled in around 100 a ...

, where in 1949 he received a full professorship. From 1908 to 1966 he was a member of the ''Deutsche Gesellschaft für Geschichte der Medizin, Naturwissenschaft und Technik'' (German Society for the History of Medicine, Natural Science and Technology). In 1936 he became a member of the

Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (), in short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founded on 1 January 1652, based on academic models in Italy, it was originally named the ''Academi ...

. He was the grandfather of politician

Eberhard Diepgen Eberhard Diepgen (born 13 November 1941) is a German lawyer and politician who served as Mayor of West Berlin from 1984 to 1989 and again as Mayor of (united) Berlin, from 1991 until 2001, as member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). E ...

. Diepgen died in

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

in 1966 at the age of 87.

Selected works

* ''Gualteri Agilonis summa medicinalis: nach den Münchener Codices lat. Nr. 325 und 13124 erstmalig ediert mit einer vergleichenden Betrachtungen älterer medizinischer Kompendien des Mittelaters''. Leipzig: Johann Ambrosius Barth 1911. * ''Geschichte der Medizin; die historische Entwicklung der Heilkunde und des ärztlichen Lebens'', 1913 – History of medicine; the historical development of medicine, etc. * ''Die Heilkunde und der ärztliche Beruf : eine Einführung'', 1938 – Medicine and the medical profession: an introduction. * ''Zur Frauenheilkunde im byzantinischen Kulturkreis des Mittelalters'', 1950 – On gynecology in the

Byzantine culture The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

of the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. * ''Über den Einfluss der authoritativen Theologie auf die Medizin des Mittelalters'', 1958 – On the influence of authoritative theology on medicine in the Middle Ages. * ''Frau und Frauenheilkunde in der Kultur des Mittelalters'', 1963 – Gynecology in the culture of the Middle Ages.Most widely held works by Paul Diepgen
WorldCat Identities

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Diepgen, Paul 1878 births 1966 deaths People from Aachen Academic staff of the University of Freiburg Academic staff of the Humboldt University of Berlin Academic staff of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz University of Freiburg alumni University of Tübingen alumni University of Bonn alumni Leipzig University alumni German gynaecologists German medical historians Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany