Rudolf Virchow

Lore & Background

Virchow's participation in the Revolution of 1848 led to his expulsion from Charité the next year. He then published a newspaper *Die Medizinische Reform* (The Medical Reform). He took the first Chair of Pathological Anatomy at the University of Würzburg in 1849. After seven years, in 1856, Charité reinstated him to its new Institute for Pathology. He co-founded the political party Deutsche Fortschrittspartei, and was elected to the Prussian House of Representatives and won a seat in the Reichstag. His opposition to Otto von Bismarck's financial policy resulted in a duel challenge by the latter. However, Virchow supported Bismarck in his anti-Catholic campaigns, which he named *Kulturkampf* ("culture struggle"). A prolific writer, he produced more than 2000 scientific writings. *Cellular Pathology* (1858), regarded as the root of modern pathology, introduced the third dictum in cell theory: *Omnis cellula e cellula* ("All cells come from cells"), although this concept is now widely recognized as being plagiarized from Robert Remak. He was a co-founder of Physikalisch-Medizinische Gesellschaft in 1849 and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Pathologie in 1897. He founded journals such as *Archiv für Pathologische Anatomie und Physiologie und für Klinische Medicin* (with Benno Reinhardt in 1847, later renamed *Virchows Archiv*), and *Zeitschrift für Ethnologie* (Journal of Ethnology). The latter is published by German Anthropological Association and the Berlin Society for Anthropology, Ethnology and Prehistory, the societies which he also founded.

Reader's Guide

Virchow was the first to describe and name diseases such as leukemia, chordoma, ochronosis, embolism, and thrombosis. He coined biological terms such as "neuroglia", "agenesis", "parenchyma", "osteoid", "amyloid degeneration", and "spina bifida"; terms such as Virchow's node, Virchow–Robin spaces, Virchow–Seckel syndrome, and Virchow's triad are named after him. His description of the life cycle of a roundworm *Trichinella spiralis* influenced the practice of meat inspection. He developed the first systematic method of autopsy, and introduced hair analysis in forensic investigation. Opposing the germ theory of diseases, he rejected Ignaz Semmelweis's idea of disinfecting. He was critical of what he described as "Nordic mysticism" regarding the Aryan race. As an anti-Darwinist, he called Charles Darwin an "ignoramus" and his own student Ernst Haeckel a "fool". He described the original specimen of Neanderthal man as nothing but that of a deformed human. In 1839, he received a military fellowship to study medicine at the Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin. He was most influenced by Johannes Peter Müller, his doctoral advisor. Virchow defended his doctoral thesis titled *De rheumate praesertim corneae* (corneal manifestations of rheumatic disease) on 21 October 1843. He published his first scientific paper in 1845, giving the earliest known pathological descriptions of leukemia. He passed the medical licensure examination in 1846 and immediately succeeded Robert Froriep as hospital prosector at the Charité. In 1847, he was appointed to his first academic position with the rank of *privatdozent*. Because his articles did not receive favourable attention from German editors, he founded *Archiv für Pathologische Anatomie und Physiologie und für Klinische Medicin* with Benno Reinhardt in 1847.

Did You Know?

• Virchow coined the aphorism: 'Medicine is a social science, and politics is nothing else but medicine on a large scale'.
• He was expelled from Charité in 1849 due to his participation in the Revolution of 1848.
• His opposition to Otto von Bismarck's financial policy resulted in a duel challenge by Bismarck.
• He called Charles Darwin an 'ignoramus' and his own student Ernst Haeckel a 'fool'.
• He described the original Neanderthal man specimen as nothing but a deformed human.