Emanuel Mendel should not be confused with Emanuel S. Mendels.
| Emanuel Mendel | |
| Birth Date: | 28 October 1839 |
| Birth Place: | Bunzlau, Lower Silesia; (today known as Bolesławiec, Poland) |
| Nationality: | German |
| Occupation: | neurologist and psychiatrist |
| Notable Works: | Introduction of duboisine as a treatment for Parkinson's disease |
Emanuel Mendel (October 28, 1839 - June 23, 1907) was a German neurologist and psychiatrist who was a university professor (from 1884 an associate professor) and director of a polyclinic in Berlin. He was born in Bunzlau, Lower Silesia; (today known as Bolesławiec, Poland) into a Jewish family.[1]
He studied medicine in Berlin and in 1871 received his habilitation for psychiatry.[2] Mendel was an advocate in regards to the unification of psychiatry and neurology as complementary disciplines. Among his better-known students and assistants were Max Bielschowsky (1869–1940), Edward Flatau (1869–1932), Lazar Minor (1855–1942) and Louis Jacobsohn-Lask (1863–1940)
Mendel is remembered for the introduction of duboisine, an extract from the Australian plant Dubosia myoporoides, as a treatment for Parkinson's disease. Also, he conducted important studies of epilepsy and progressive paralysis.[2]
Among his medical writings was a textbook on psychiatry titled Leitfaden der Psychiatrie für Studirende der Medizin (1902), later translated into English and published as "Text-book of psychiatry : A psychological study of insanity for practitioners and students".[3] [4] Also, he was founder and publisher of the neurological/psychiatric magazine Neurologisches Centralblatt.[2]
Mendel was interested in politics, and was a member of the Reichstag from 1877 to 1881.[2]