Abraham Kuhn

Who was Abraham Kuhn?

Abraham Kuhn was an Alsatian otolarynologist born in Bissersheim, Rhineland-Palatinate.

He studied under Anton von Tröltsch at the University of Würzburg, then continued his education at the École de Médecine in Strasbourg. In 1870 he published Traité pratique des maladies de l'oreille, a French translation of Tröltsch's Lehrbuch der Ohrenheilkunde.

During the Franco-Prussian War he served with the Croix-Rouge on the battlefields of Wissembourg and Wörth. Afterwards he became a lecturer at the renamed Kaiser-Wilhelm-Universität in Strassburg, where in 1881 he was appointed associate professor of otolaryngology and director at the clinic of ear diseases.

During this time period, Kuhn was only one of a handful of professors in Germany who specialized in the field of otology. Much of his scientific research dealt with comparative anatomy of the ear, in particular the inner ear's labyrinth. He also made significant contributions involving diagnosis and treatment of ear tumors.