Wilhelm Waldeyer-An Important Scientific Researcher of the 19th Century in the Context of His Memoirs and Major Monographies

Hubert Scheuerlein; Carolina Pape-Köhler; Ferdinand Köckerling

doi:10.3389/fsurg.2021.752709

Wilhelm Waldeyer-An Important Scientific Researcher of the 19th Century in the Context of His Memoirs and Major Monographies

Front Surg. 2021 Nov 1:8:752709. doi: 10.3389/fsurg.2021.752709. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Hubert Scheuerlein¹, Carolina Pape-Köhler¹, Ferdinand Köckerling²

Affiliations

¹ Academic Teaching Hospital of the University of Göttingen, Clinic for General, Visceral and Paediatric Surgery, St. Vincenz Hospital Paderborn, Paderborn, Germany.
² Department of Surgery and Center for Minimally Invasive Surgery, Academic Teaching Hospital of Charité Medical School, Vivantes Hospital, Berlin, Germany.

Abstract

Wilhelm Waldeyer was one of the most important anatomists of his time. The year 2021 marks the 100th anniversary of his death. His name not only lives on in terms such as "Waldeyer's pharyngeal ring" or "Waldeyer's fascia," he also coined the terms "neuron" and "chromosome." He produced monumental monographies such as "The Pelvis" and "Ovary and Egg". Waldeyer's legacy is a large body of lifetime work that continues to impress to this day. However, he also published works that today would be described as racist. His view of a woman's role was and is also controversial. Nevertheless, reading his autobiography (Lebenserinnerungen) today is still beneficial because it vividly illustrates the academic life and a scholarly existence of that era.

Keywords: 100th death anniversary; Ovary and Egg; The Pelvis; Waldeyer; autobiography.

Publication types

Review