Siegfried Oberndorfer (24 June 1876 in

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 ...

– 1944 in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

) was a Jewish-German physician,

pathologist Pathology is the study of disease. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in the context of modern medical treatme ...

, and cancer researcher.

Medical studies

Oberndorfer studied medicine in

and

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

, earning the title of doctor in 1900. From October 1900 to September 1901, he assisted

Friedrich Wilhelm Zahn Friedrich Wilhelm Zahn (14 February 1845 – 1904) was a German-Swiss pathologist born in Germersheim. His eponyms include Zahn infarct and lines of Zahn. Life Zahn studied medicine at the University of Strasbourg under Friedrich Daniel von Reck ...

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

. Working as a ship's doctor, he ended an outbreak of plague on the

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

-to-

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

route in 1901. In 1902 he returned to Germany as assistant to the pathological institute of the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

, headed by

Otto Bollinger Otto Bollinger (2 April 1843 – 13 August 1909) was a German pathologist born in Altenkirchen, Kusel, Rhineland-Palatinate. In 1868, he obtained his doctorate in Berlin and two years later received his habilitation. He taught classes at the ...

Early medical career

In 1906, Oberndorfer was promoted to lead the pathological institute of the

Rechts der Isar Hospital The Rechts der Isar Hospital (; "Hospital to the right of the Isar") is a hospital in the Haidhausen district of Munich, Germany. It is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of the TUM School of Medicine and Health. Overview ...

. In 1906 he qualified as a professor in pathological anatomy, presenting a thesis on chronic

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the Appendix (anatomy), appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever and anorexia (symptom), decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these t ...

. In 1907, he introduced the medical term

carcinoid A carcinoid (also carcinoid tumor) is a slow-growing type of neuroendocrine tumor originating in the cells of the neuroendocrine system. In some cases, metastasis may occur. Carcinoid tumors of the midgut (jejunum, ileum, appendix, and cecum) ...

(German: ''Karzinoide'') that is still in use today. From 1910, he headed the pathology department of the Schwabing Clinic in Munich.

World War I service

With the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in August 1914, Oberndorfer volunteered as a doctor for the military. He worked in a field hospital on the western front until 1916, then served as an army pathologist until the war ended in 1918. By detailed autopsies of soldiers killed in combat, Oberndorfer investigated possible therapies to heal serious war injuries. His examining instruments are lodged in a display case in the foyer of the Schwabing Clinic — along with scientific notes about his experiences as a field doctor and handwritten letters from the front to his family in Munich. His professional certificates, military honors and medals are also on display.Ulrike Heikaus
“Ungewöhnliche Recherchewege (Unusual research methods)”
Munich Jewish Museum blog, January 15, 2013.

Sacked by Nazis, takes exile in Turkey

On April 1, 1933, the newly installed

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 ...

regime dismissed Oberndorfer from the Schwabing Clinic — along with chief physicians

Otto Neubauer Otto Neubauer (8 April 1874 – 24 November 1957) was a Bohemia-born physician and biochemist who was responsible for several clinical diagnostic innovations including the Neubauer-Fischer test to evaluate kidney function and the Neubauer counting c ...

and David Mandelbaum — due to his Jewish ancestry. In autumn 1933, following an invitation from

Istanbul University Istanbul University, also known as University of Istanbul (), is a Public university, public research university located in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded by Mehmed II on May 30, 1453, a day after Fall of Constantinople, the conquest of Constantinop ...

, Oberndorfer left Germany for Turkey. He continued living and publishing in Turkey for the rest of his life, working as a full professor at the medical school and director of the Institute for General and Experimental Pathology in Istanbul. In 1937 he was transferred to the Institute for Cancer Research. Oberndorfer died in 1944 from a

mediastinal tumor A mediastinal tumor is a tumor in the mediastinum, the cavity that separates the lungs from the rest of the chest. It contains the heart, esophagus, trachea, thymus, and aorta. The most common mediastinal masses are thymoma (20% of mediastinal tumo ...

Reference Notes

Publications

* Karzinoide Tumoren des Dünndarmes. Frankfurter Zeitschrift für Pathologie, 1907, 1: 426-429. * Pathologisch-anatomische Situsbilder der Bauchhöhle. In: Lehman’s Medizinische Atlanten, Munich, 1922. * Die Geschwülste des Darmes. In: Handbuch der pathologischen Anatomie, Band 4,3, Berlin, 1929. * Prostata, Hoden, Geschwülste. In: Handbuch der pathologischen Anatomie, Band 6, Berlin, 1931.

External links

''Siegfried Oberndorfer''
@

Who Named It ''Whonamedit?'' is an online English-language dictionary of medical eponyms and the people associated with their identification. Though it is a dictionary, many eponyms and persons are presented in extensive articles with comprehensive bibliograp ...

Siegfried Oberndorfer in Pathology Department of LMU München
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oberndorfer, Siegfried German pathologists 1876 births 1944 deaths Physicians from Munich German emigrants to Turkey