Johann Ludwig Choulant

Who was Johann Ludwig Choulant?

Johann Ludwig Choulant was a German physician and medical historian born in Dresden. He was the father of architect Ludwig Theodor Choulant.

He studied medicine at the Collegium Medico-chirurgicum in Dresden and at the University of Leipzig, followed by work in 1817 as a physician/obstetrician in Altenburg. During the same year he joined the staff at the Medizinischen Realwörterbuch of Johann Friedrich Pierer. In 1821 he was a physician at the Königlichen Katholischen Krankenstift in Dresden-Friedrichstadt.

In 1822 he began work as a lecturer at the Königlich Chirurgisch-Medizinische Akademie in Dresden, where during the following year he became a professor of theoretical medicine. In 1828 he became a professor of practical medicine, and from 1843 to 1860 was rector of the Royal Surgical-Medical Academy. From 1844 he served as medical officer in the Saxon Ministry of the Interior.

In addition to his work involving the literary history of medicine, Choulant made many contributions to the Saxon Medizinalordnung. In 1823 he began work as an associate editor of the journal Zeitschrift für Natur- und Heilkunde.