Martin Benno Schmidt

Who was Martin Benno Schmidt?

Martin Benno Schmidt was a German pathologist born in Leipzig.

He spent several years as an assistant in Strasbourg, where he worked under Friedrich Daniel von Recklinghausen. In 1906 he became a professor of pathology at the medical academy in Düsseldorf, and afterwards worked as a pathologist in Zurich and Marburg. In 1913 he succeeded Richard Kretz as professor of pathology at the University of Würzburg, a position he maintained until his retirement in 1934.

Schmidt specialized in pathological investigations of bone disorders such as rickets, osteogenesis imperfecta, and osteomalacia. He is remembered for his description of autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome, type II, a disease characterized by autoimmune activity against more than one endocrine gland. This condition is sometimes referred to as "Schmidt's syndrome".

Also, he performed important studies involving iron metabolism. With pathologist Ludwig Aschoff, he published a treatise on pyelonephritis called Die Pyelonephritis in anatomischer und bakteriologischer Beziehung. Other noted works by Schmidt include:

Ueber Typhus abdominalis, 1907 - About abdominal typhus.