Rudolf Albert Martin Boehm (Böhm) (19 May 1844, in

Nördlingen Nördlingen (; Swabian: ''Nearle'' or ''Nearleng'') is a town in the Donau-Ries district, in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, with a population of approximately 20,674. It is located approximately east of Stuttgart, and northwest of Munich. It was ...

– 19 August 1926, in

Bad Kohlgrub Bad Kohlgrub is a German municipality in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria. It lies west of Murnau am Staffelsee and north of Oberammergau, and is connected to both by the Ammergau Railway. Skiing facilities include 4 ski lifts, ...

) was a German

pharmacologist Pharmacology is the science of drugs and medications, including a substance's origin, composition, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, therapeutic use, and toxicology. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur between ...

, known for his work in the field of experimental pharmacology. He studied medicine at the universities of

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

and

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...

, and in 1868–70 served as an assistant to Franz von Rinecker at the Juliusspital in Würzburg. In 1871 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

Adolf Fick Adolf Eugen Fick (3 September 1829 – 21 August 1901) was a German-born physician and physiologist. Early life and education Fick began his work in the formal study of mathematics and physics before realising an aptitude for medicine. He t ...

, then during the following year was named a professor of pharmacology,

dietetics A dietitian, medical dietitian, or dietician is an expert in identifying and treating disease-related malnutrition and in conducting medical nutrition therapy, for example designing an enteral tube feeding regimen or mitigating the effects of ...

and

history of medicine The history of medicine is both a study of medicine throughout history as well as a multidisciplinary field of study that seeks to explore and understand medical practices, both past and present, throughout human societies. The history of med ...

at the

University of Dorpat The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a public research university located in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is also the largest and oldest university in the country.

. Later on, he worked as professor of pharmacology at the universities of

Marburg Marburg (; ) is a college town, university town in the States of Germany, German federal state () of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf Districts of Germany, district (). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has ...

(from 1881) and

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 ...

(from 1884), where on four separate occasions he was named dean to the medical faculty.Boehm, Rudolf Albert Martin
drw.saw-leipzig.de During his tenure at Leipzig, he oversaw the construction of its pharmacological institute (1886–88).
In: Neue Deutsche Biographie (NDB). Band 2, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1955, , S. 379. Today the institute at Leipzig is known as the Rudolf-Boehm-Institut für Pharmakologie und Toxikologie. His main research dealt with the pharmacological and

toxicological Toxicology is a scientific discipline (academia), discipline, overlapping with biology, chemistry, pharmacology, and medicine, that involves the study of the adverse effects of chemical substances on living organisms and the practice of diagnos ...

properties of substances of plant origin and their effect(s) on the animal organism. He conducted extensive studies on the actions of

digitalis ''Digitalis'' ( or ) is a genus of about 20 species of herbaceous perennial plants, shrubs, and Biennial plant, biennials, commonly called foxgloves. ''Digitalis'' is native to Europe, Western Asia, and northwestern Africa. The flowers are ...

muscarine Muscarine, L-(+)-muscarine, or muscarin is a Secondary metabolite, natural product found in certain mushrooms, particularly in ''Inocybe'' and ''Clitocybe'' species, such as the deadly ''Clitocybe dealbata, C. dealbata''. Mushrooms in the g ...

(a product of certain mushrooms),

choline Choline is a cation with the chemical formula . Choline forms various Salt (chemistry), salts, such as choline chloride and choline bitartrate. An essential nutrient for animals, it is a structural component of phospholipids and cell membrane ...

and

curare Curare ( or ; or ) is a common name for various alkaloid arrow poisons originating from plant extracts. Used as a paralyzing agent by indigenous peoples in Central and South America for hunting and for therapeutic purposes, curare only ...

. In 1895 he classified curare into three groups; "

calabash Calabash (; ''Lagenaria siceraria''), also known as bottle gourd, white-flowered gourd, long melon, birdhouse gourd, New Guinea bean, New Guinea butter bean, Tasmania bean, and opo squash, is a vine grown for its fruit. It can be either harvest ...

curares" (usually taken from the family

Loganiaceae The Loganiaceae are a family of flowering plants classified in order Gentianales. The family includes up to 13 genera, distributed around the world's tropics. There are not any great morphological characteristics to distinguish these taxa from ot ...

, ''

Strychnos ''Strychnos'' is a genus of flowering plants, belonging to the family Loganiaceae (sometimes Strychnaceae). The genus includes about 200 accepted species of trees and lianas. The genus is widely distributed around the world's tropics and is n ...

'' species), "tubo curares" (derived from the family

Menispermaceae Menispermaceae (botanical Latin: 'moonseed family' from Greek ''mene'' 'crescent moon' and ''sperma'' 'seed') is a family (biology), family of flowering plants. The alkaloid tubocurarine, a neuromuscular blocker and the active ingredient in the ...

) and "pot curares" (mixed

and

substances). He also performed significant research of

carbohydrate metabolism Carbohydrate metabolism is the whole of the biochemistry, biochemical processes responsible for the metabolic anabolism, formation, catabolism, breakdown, and interconversion of carbohydrates in life, living organisms. Carbohydrates are central t ...

Selected works

* ''Die Physiologie und Pathologie der Seele'' (1870); German translation of

Henry Maudsley Henry Maudsley (5 February 183523 January 1918) was a pioneering English psychiatrist, commemorated in the Maudsley Hospital in London and in the annual Maudsley Lecture of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Life and career Maudsley was b ...

's ''Physiology and pathology of the mind''. * ''Studien über Herzgifte'', (1871). * ''Handbuch der Intoxicationen'' (with

Bernhard Naunyn Bernhard Naunyn (2 September 1839 – 26 July 1925) was a German pathologist, born in Berlin. Biography After receiving his degree at the University of Berlin in 1863, he became an assistant to pathologist Friedrich Theodor von Frerichs (1819� ...

and Hermann von Boeck), (1876). * ''Lehrbuch der allgemeinen und speziellen Arzneiverordnungslehre für Studierende, Ärzte und Apotheker'', (1884). * ''Das Calebassencurare. Das Topfcurare. Über einige Curarerinden'', (1897). * ''Physiologische Untersuchungen über den Tod'' (1912); German translation of

Xavier Bichat Marie François Xavier Bichat (; ; 14 November 1771 – 22 July 1802) was a French anatomist and pathologist, known as the father of modern histology. Although he worked without a microscope, Bichat distinguished 21 types of elementary tissues ...

's ''Recherches physiologiques sur la vie et la mort''.Most widely held works by Rudolf Boehm
WorldCat Identities He was also an editor of the journal ''Archivs für experimentelle Pathologie und Pharmakologie''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boehm, Rudolf 1844 births 1926 deaths People from Nördlingen German pharmacologists Academic staff of Leipzig University Academic staff of the University of Tartu Academic staff of the University of Marburg University of Würzburg alumni