The historical context of Franz Kallmann and psychiatric genetics

Gershon, Elliot S.

doi:10.1007/bf01833156

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…From Harvey Cushing to Fuller Albright, the endocrine literature is full of biographic notes; however, Gershon’s is the only biographic article on Franz Kallmann that I could find in medical journals. 5 Although Kallmann syndrome is often encountered by endocrinologists in daily practice, very few know the story of the man behind the eponym. Franz Kallmann was not a Nazi party member and was not involved in the atrocities committed by his contemporary German colleagues; however, he has been criticized in several articles, mostly in the psychiatric arena, for his eugenics views.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Franz Kallmann was not a Nazi party member and was not involved in the atrocities committed by his contemporary German colleagues; however, he has been criticized in several articles, mostly in the psychiatric arena, for his eugenics views. Some authors have profiled him as a Nazi victim, 5 , 22 and others as a victimizer. 9 , 12 , 23 Though his views were probably tempered over the years, the fact that his work both abroad and in America emerged from the epicenter of Nazi medicine raises concerns about the ethical implications of the eponymous distinction bestowed upon him.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bruno was a physician who converted from Judaism to Christianity. 5 After completing his military service, Franz Joseph received an MD degree from the University of Breslau in 1919 and underwent further training in psychiatry with Karl Bonhoffer and Hans Gerhard Creutzfeld in Berlin. Early in his career, Kallmann became interested in theories of genetic factors in schizophrenia, and between 1929 and 1935 he was granted several fellowships at the Psychiatric Research Institute in Munich, in the department headed by the Swiss psychiatrist Ernst Rudin.…”

Section: Franz Kallmann: the Early Yearsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Early in his career, Kallmann became interested in theories of genetic factors in schizophrenia, and between 1929 and 1935 he was granted several fellowships at the Psychiatric Research Institute in Munich, in the department headed by the Swiss psychiatrist Ernst Rudin. 5 Rudin was the brother-in-law of Alfred Ploetz, with whom he founded the Munich Society for Racial Hygiene. 6 In an article published in 1903, “Alcohol in the Life Process of the Race,” Rudin wrote (translated by Weber) 7 that to obtain “biologically fit members of the race” it was necessary not only to have “maximum propagation of those who are healthy, robust and … ethically superior” but also to exclude “the weak, ill, unfit and morally reprehensible from reproduction by artificial selection, … by instruction and by private and government force.” In 1916, Rudin published his pivotal study on 701 families in which he sought to demonstrate the heritable characteristics of schizophrenia.…”

Section: Franz Kallmann: the Early Yearsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Kallmann Syndrome: Eugenics and the Man behind the Eponym

Benbassat

2016

Rambam Maimonides Med J

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Kallmann syndrome is named after Franz Joseph Kallmann, a German-born psychiatrist who described in 1944 twelve subjects from three families who presented with a syndrome of missed puberty, anosmia, and color blindness. Yet, several other eponyms for the same syndrome can be found in the literature. Despite the fact that Kallmann syndrome is the most recognized eponym, very little is known about the man for whom the syndrome is named. A biographical note on Franz Joseph Kallmann and his historical context is presented.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Franz Kallmann: the Early Yearsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Franz Kallmann: the Early Yearsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Kallmann Syndrome: Eugenics and the Man behind the Eponym

Benbassat

2016

Rambam Maimonides Med J

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“…His work described siblings of schizophrenic patients as having a 10 times higher risk of schizophrenia than people with no family history. 7 Nevertheless, Kallmann enjoyed some career highs in New York when becoming president and cofounder of the American Society of Human Genetics in 1952 and director of the New York State Psychiatric Institute in 1955. The culmination of his research career saw 176 papers and 49 books and pamphlets written on schizophrenia, tuberculosis, and other genetic disorders before he died from cancer on May 12, 1965.…”

Section: Franz Josef Kallmann (1897-1965)mentioning

confidence: 99%

History of cerebral localization and the emigration plight of three neuroscience giants from Nazi Germany: Josef Gerstmann, Adolf Wallenberg, and Franz Josef Kallmann

Fana

Smith

Gable

et al. 2019

Neurosurgical Focus

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The Nazi regime held power for well over a decade in Germany and were steadfast in their anti-Semitic agenda. Among the massive cohort of immigrants to America were approximately 5056 Jewish physicians, including several highly esteemed neurologists and neuroscientists of the time. Emigrating to a new world proved difficult and provided new challenges by way of language barriers, roadblocks in medical careers, and problems integrating into an alien system of medical training and clinical practice. In this article, the authors examine the tumultuous and accomplished lives of three Jewish German and Austrian neurologists and neuroscientists during the time of the Third Reich who shaped the foundations of neuroanatomy and neuropsychology: Josef Gerstmann, Adolf Wallenberg, and Franz Josef Kallmann. The authors first examine the successful careers of these individuals in Germany and Austria prior to the Third Reich, followed by their journeys to and lives in the United States, to demonstrate the challenges an émigré physician faces for career opportunities and a chance at a new life. This account culminates in a description of these scientists’ eponymous syndromes.Although their stories are a testimony to the struggles in Nazi Germany, there are intriguing and notable differences in their ages, ideologies, and religious beliefs, which highlight a spectrum of unique circumstances that impacted their success in the United States. Furthermore, in this account the authors bring to light the original syndromic descriptions: Gerstmann discovered contralateral agraphia and acalculia, right-left confusion, and finger agnosia in patients with dominant angular gyrus damage; Wallenberg described a constellation of symptoms in a patient with stenosis of the posterior inferior cerebellar artery; and Kallmann identified an association between hypogonadotropic hypogonadism and anosmia based on family studies. The article also highlights the unresolved confusions and international controversies about these syndromic descriptions. Still, these unique cerebral syndromes continue to fascinate neurologists and neurosurgeons across the world, from residents in training to practicing clinicians and neuroscientists alike.

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Kallmann, Franz Josef

Bettendorf

1995

Zur Geschichte Der Endokrinologie Und Reproduktionsmedizin

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The historical context of Franz Kallmann and psychiatric genetics

Cited by 9 publications

References 10 publications

Kallmann Syndrome: Eugenics and the Man behind the Eponym

Kallmann Syndrome: Eugenics and the Man behind the Eponym

History of cerebral localization and the emigration plight of three neuroscience giants from Nazi Germany: Josef Gerstmann, Adolf Wallenberg, and Franz Josef Kallmann

Kallmann, Franz Josef

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