Adolph Strümpell

Who was Adolph Strümpell?

Ernst Adolf Gustav Gottfried von Strümpell was a Baltic German neurologist.

Strümpell was the son of philosopher Ludwig Strümpell.

1875 he received his medical doctorate from the University of Leipzig, where he had as instructors Carl Wunderlich, Karl Thiersch and Carl Ludwig. In 1883 he was an associate professor at Leipzig, and from 1886 to 1903 was a full professor at the University of Erlangen, succeeding Wilhelm Olivier Leube as director of the medical clinic. Afterwards he was a professor at the Universities of Breslau, Vienna and Leipzig, where in 1915 he was appointed rector.

Along with French neurologist Pierre Marie, he is credited with identifying and diagnosing an arthritic spinal deformity that was to become known as the Marie–Strümpell disease. Together with French physician Maurice Lorrain, the eponymous Strümpell–Lorrain disease is named, which is an hereditary spastic paraplegia.

In 1884 Strümpell published a textbook on internal medicine that was based on his experiences. This publication, Lehrbuch der speziellen Pathologie und Therapie der inneren Krankheiten was then considered the definitive textbook in Germany in regards to internal medicine.