Alfred Bielschowsky

Alfred Bielschowsky {December 11, 1871 - April 5, 1940) was a German ophthalmologist who was born in Namslau, Niederschlesien. He studied medicine in Heidelberg and Berlin, where he received his doctorate in 1893. In 1906 he became head physician at the Leipzig Eye Clinic; in 1912 he attained the chair of ophthalmology at the University of Marburg, and in 1923 he was appointed chair at Breslau. Because of his Jewish heritage and Nazi persecution, he was fired from his position in 1932, and later emigrated to the United States. Here he became head of the Dartmouth Eye Institute at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.

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Bielschowsky's specialty was physiology and pathology of the eye, particularly in regards to research of eye movement, space perception and diagnosis of oculomotor anomalies. While a young man he studied and worked with renowned physicians such as Theodor Leber and Ewald Hering. During World War I, he established a hospital ward and Braille instruction for treatment of blinded soldiers. With Carl Strehl (1886-1971), he founded the Verein blinder Akademiker Deutschlands (Association of Blinded German Academicians). For his war-time contributions, he was awarded the Iron Cross for War Aid from Paul von Hindenburg and honored with the title of Geheimer Medizinalrat (Privy Medical Counselor) by Emperor Wilhelm II. While at Breslau, Bielschowsky published Die Lähmungen der Augenmuskeln, an influential work concerning eye muscle disturbances.

Associated eponym:

• Bielschowsky's head tilt test: A test for palsy of the superior oblique muscle caused by damage to cranial nerve IV (trochlear nerve).

References

• Ophthalmology Hall of Fame; Biography and Photo