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Research Article | DOI: https://doi.org/10.31579/2578-8949/118
The Petro Mohyla Black Sea State University, Nikolaev, Ukraine
*Corresponding Author: Konstantin Anatolyevich Bugaevsky, The Petro Mohyla Black Sea State University, Nikolaev, Ukraine
Citation: Konstantin A. Bugaevsky, (2023), Dermatology and Venereology in The Mirror of Collection Media, Dermatology and Dermatitis, 8(2); DOI:10.31579/2578-8949/118
Copyright: © 2023, Konstantin Anatolyevich Bugaevsky. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of The Creative Commons. Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Received: 29 March 2023 | Accepted: 03 April 2023 | Published: 12 April 2023
Keywords: dermatology; venerology; famous scientists and doctors; philately; numismatics; faleristics; commemorative coins; medals; awards; badges
The article presents the materials of a new study, devoted to the reflection in the means of collecting the memory of the history of world dermato-venereology and well-known doctors’ dermatologists and venereologists. This article, which is a logical continuation of the previously published materials, will present the biographies and scientific contributions of several famous German, Austrian, Hungarian, Norvegian and Romanian scientists-researchers and practitioners who left their contribution to the development and formation of their national and world dermatology and venereology.
The study of the history of world medicine, as well as any of its clinical disciplines, is always very exciting and relevant! This, directly concerns the history of world dermatovenerology, especially this story is built with the use, as an illustrative material, such means of collecting, such as philately, numismatics and phaleristics, in all their diversity. In this, the second part of the article, we will talk about the history of formation, development and active scientific and practical activity of such famous schools and their representatives as dermatological schools of Germany, Austria, Hungary, Norway and Romania, periods of XIX-XX centuries. Famous scientists and doctors-practitioners will be represented on postage stamps, envelopes, post cards, commemorative coins and medals, awards of different time periods and, of course, different countries of the world.
Aim of the work
To present the found materials, previously conducted research, and to present biographies and scientific contribution to the formation and dynamics of the world clinical sciences, such as dermatology and venereology, a number of famous scientists and practitioners, such countries as Germany, Austria, Hungary, Norway and Romania, using as illustrations,
screenshots of such means of collecting, such as philately, numismatics, phaleristics, in all their diversity.
In conducting this research work, we used the method of literary and critical analysis of available scientific sources of information on the issue under study, using catalogs, specialized periodicals, encyclopedias, reference books, Internet resources.
Results of the study and discussion
After conducting the necessary amount of search and research work, we selected quite exclusive, colorful and interesting, in our opinion, informative and illustrative material. Thus, Fig. 1 shows a selection of postage stamps of the USA and Australia, dedicated to microorganisms causing a number of serious sexually transmitted diseases. These stamps present images of microorganisms that cause a number of sexually transmitted diseases: gonococci, chlamydia, pale spirochete, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and herpes virus (Fig. 1) [11, 14]. These microorganisms are detected in the diagnostic work of venereologists, bacteriologists and virologists, in the diagnosis and treatment of gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia and AIDS.
Figure 1: The causative agents of a number of sexually transmitted diseases as reflected in philatelic media
One of the world-famous scientists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries was the German scientist Paul Ehrlich (1894-1915). In addition to being a Nobel laureate in medicine and physiology (1908) for the discovery of humoral immunity, he was a bacteriologist, microbiologist and scientist who dealt with syphilidology [1, 2, 4]. It was he, together with the chemist Alfred Bertheim, who, on the basis of arsenic compounds, in 1910, developed and created an effective means for the treatment of syphilis, the legendary drug "606", called "Salvarsan", which helped to cure tens, if not hundreds of thousands of syphilis patients around the world [1, 2, 4]. He and his assistant, Japanese microbiologist Sahachiro Hata, conducted preclinical testing of the drug. In 1912, Ehrlich replaced Salvarsan with a less toxic, easier-to-use derivative, Neosalvarsan, which became the standard treatment for syphilis until the late 1940s, when it was replaced by penicillin as a safer alternative treatment for syphilis [1, 2, 4]. A selection of collectible philatelic (first-day postage stamps and envelopes, with original postmarks), bonistics (a banknote of the Federal Republic of Germany (1989), with a face value of 200 German marks, obverse and reverse, with a portrait of P. Ehrlich and the formula of salvarsan) and numismatic (commemorative medals), dedicated to Paul Ehrlich and Sahachiro Hata and to the "salvarsan" invented and introduced by them, are presented in Fig. 2 [1, 2, 6, 12-14].
Figure 2: Collection materials devoted to P. Ehrlich and S. Hata
Figure. 3, presents a small selection of materials (photographs, portrait, commemorative medal, books) [4, 14] dedicated to the memory of the famous German scientist Albert Ludwig Sigmund Neisser (1855-1916), whose name is given to the gonorrhea pathogen, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, which he discovered in 1879 [4]. He was also active in the study of syphilis and leprosy (leprae). He was the first to isolate and identify Bacillus leprae, the causative agent of leprosy, proposed a method of staining it for microscopy, and dealt with contagious molluscum and tuberculosis of the skin. He is the founder, in 1902, of the German Society for the Control of Venereological Diseases [4].
Figure 3: Collection materials devoted to A.L.Z. Neisser
World venereology and syphilidology remember and honor the name of the famous German scientists - Fritz Richard Schaudinn (1871-1906) and Paul Erich Hofmann (1868-1959). In 1905, together with the dermatologist Paul Erich Hoffmann, he described the syphilis pathogen, which they called Spirochaeta pallida and which was later called Treponema pallidum [2, 4]. A selection of collection materials (photographs, books, commemorative medal-plaque) dedicated to F.R. Schaudin and Erich Hofmann is shown in Figure. 4 [14].
Figure 4: Collection materials devoted to F.R. Schaudin and P.E. Hofmann
Next, we will talk about Karl Herxheimer (1861-1942) was a German dermatologist of Jewish origin. In 1885 he received his doctorate from Würzburg. In 1894 he became director of the dermatology clinic in Frankfurt and, together with Paul Ehrlich, was instrumental in founding the University of Frankfurt. In 1914 he became professor of skin and venereal diseases at that university. He was engaged in the diagnosis and treatment of syphilis. He described acrodermatitis atrophicus chronica (Herxheimer-Gartmann atrophic acrodermatitis). At the end of 1942, at the age of 81, Karl Herxheimer was killed by the Nazis in Theresienstadt [4]. In his honor, in modern Germany, the Carl Herxheimer Medal, which is the highest award in German dermatology, is awarded to outstanding scientists in the field of dermatovenereology, in memory of the great doctor, teacher and researcher Carl Herxheimer [4]. This commemorative medal, in obverse and reverse, is shown in Fig. 5 [9, 14].
Figure 5: Commemorative materials, in honor of Professor C. Herxheimer
When the name Kaposi is mentioned, the term "Kaposi's sarcoma" immediately springs to mind in any doctor's mind. Many people think that this is the last name of a Japanese scientist, but no - it is the last name of the famous Hungarian doctor-practitioner Moritz Kaposi, who diagnosed and treated such diseases as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), xeroderma pigmentosa, rhinoscleroma, syphilis, and several other diseases [4]. In 1872, Moritz Kaposi described SLE as a systemic multi-organ disease [4]. Fig. 6, presents a selection of collection materials, including a
photograph and portrait of the scholar, his writings, and commemorative medals in his honor [14, 15].
Figure 6: Collection materials, in memory of Moritz Kaposi
The Norwegian Dr. Aramuer Hansen (1841-1912), a tireless fighter against leprosy (leprosy), who devoted many years of his life to the fight against this formidable disease, is world-renowned. He was one of those who discovered the causative agent of leprae, Bacillus leprae [3, 4]. Fig. 7, presents a selection of collection materials in memory to A. Hansen [3, 7, 11, 14].
Figure 7: Collection materials on A. Hansen and leprosy
Figure 8: Collection materials devoted to F.R. von Gebrа
I would also like to mention another representative of the German school of dermatologists, Paul Gerson Unna (1850-1929). Here are brief milestones of his biography: 1875 - doctoral studies with a thesis on histology and history of development of human epidermis and its appendages. 1881 - foundation of a private clinic in Hamburg. 1882 - Introduction of ichthyol and salicylic acid in dermatotherapy, founding of a monthly booklet on practical dermatology, later a weekly dermatology. 1887 - first description of seborrheic dermatitis. 1893 - description of the epithelial origin of melanocytic nevi. Figure 9, shows the commemorative award medal named after him, which is awarded by the German Dermatological Society for significant achievements in the field of dermatology [4, 14].
Figure 9: Commemorative medal named after P. G. Unn. P.G. Unn, German Dermatological Society
Speaking of syphilidology, it is impossible not to mention the contribution to its development of the famous German scientist, August Paul von Wassermann (1866-1925). All physicians, without exception, know what the "Wassermann reaction" is, and for millions of people who had contracted syphilis, the positive result of this study was often the sad outcome of their lives, both personal and sexual. Its discovery, along with that of dermatologist Albert Neisser, a researcher of gonorrhea, in 1906, led to the early diagnosis and treatment of syphilis [2, 4]. The test has been used for generations around the world to control the spread of syphilis, and even in the 21st century it is still used along with new diagnostic procedures. Beginning in 1890, it was conducted at the Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases in Berlin. Unfortunately, there are virtually no collection materials devoted to this scientist! Figure 10, presents a small selection of materials devoted to A.P. von Wasserman [2, 4, 14].
Figure 10: Collection materials devoted to A.P. von Wassermann
In the presentation of philatelic collectibles dedicated to famous Romanian scientists and medical practitioners in the field of dermatology and venereology, we would like to note their insignificant number. They are mostly Romanian postcards from the period of 1970s [4]. But, at the same time, they have their own varieties in color, with or without stamps of special thematic stamping, passed or not passed the mail, which are shown in Fig. 11a-f [14]. These are the postcard of Romania (1971) devoted to Professor Coriolan Tataru (1889-1957), fig. 11a; to Professor Scarlat Longhin (1899-1979), fig. 11b; postcard (1980) dedicated to Professor Stefan GN Nicolau (1874-1970), fig. 11c; Professor Mihal Petrini-Galatz (1846-1926), fig. 11d; Professor Gheoghe Nastase (1847-1945), fig. 11e; Professor Stefan Teodorescu (1894-1974), fig. 11f [14].
Figure 11a: Postcards dedicated to Dr. Coriolan Tataru
Figure 11b: Postcards dedicated to Dr. Scarlat Longhin
Figure. 11c: Postcards dedicated to Dr. Stefan GM Nicolau
Figure 11d: Postcards dedicated to Dr. Mihal Petrini-Galatz
Figure 11e: Postcards dedicated to Dr. Gheoghe Nastase
Figure 11f: Postcards dedicated to Dr. Stefan Teodorescu
This concludes the second article on famous scientists and practitioners in dermatovenerology from countries such as Germany, Austria, Hungary, Norway and Romania, in a reflection of philately, numismatics and faleristics. In the next, third article, we will talk about scientific and practical schools of dermatovenerology of such countries and continents as Japan, Latin America.
1. The means of collecting, such as philately, phaleristics and numismatics, in sufficiently full volume, accessible and informative, are able to bring to the interested reader any necessary section of information connected with events and personalities, in the world of medicine, in any of the medical directions and specializations.
2. This article and the results of the search and research work presented in it, both in its informative and illustrative parts, presented interesting and informative material on famous scientists and practitioners, as well as events concerning foreign dermatovenerology.