Georg N. Koskinas Explained

Georg N. Koskinas (1 December 1885 – 8 July 1975) was a Greek neurologist-psychiatrist. He was born on 1 December 1885 in Geraki, near Sparta.^{[1] [2]} He studied medicine at the University of Athens, graduating in 1910, and trained as a resident in the Clinic of Psychiatry and Neurology of Aiginiteion Hospital under Michel Catsaras, a student of Jean-Martin Charcot (1825-1893).

Life and career

Between 1916 and 1927 he worked at the University of Vienna in neuropathology and neuroanatomy. At the Neurological Institute, his mentors in neuropathology were Heinrich Obersteiner (1847-1922) and Otto Marburg (1874-1948). In 1925 Koskinas published, with neurologist Constantin von Economo (1876-1931), the monumental Cytoarchitektonik der Hirnrinde des erwachsenen Menschen^[3] (Cytoarchitectonics of the Adult Human Cerebral Cortex^[4]).

His collaboration with neuropathologist Ernst Sträussler (1872-1959)^[5] in the Psychiatric Clinic headed by Julius Wagner-Jauregg (1857-1940) lead to several histopathological publications related to the malaria therapy of dementia paralytica or general paresis of the insane, a complication of tertiary syphilis.^{[6] [7] [8] [9]}

Following his repatriation to Greece in 1927, he founded private clinics and practised psychiatry and neurology in Kifissia, a northern Athenian suburb.

Koskinas died on 8 July 1975 in Athens at the age of 89.

Notes and References

1. Triarhou, L.C. (2005) Georg N. Koskinas (1885-1975) and his scientific contributions to the normal and pathological anatomy of the human brain. Brain Research Bulletin 68: 121-139.
2. Triarhou, L.C. (2006) Pioneers in Neurology: Georg N. Koskinas (1885-1975). Journal of Neurology 253: 1377-1378.
3. Economo, C. von, Koskinas, G.N. (1925) Die Cytoarchitektonik der Hirnrinde des erwachsenen Menschen. Textband und Atlas. Springer, Wien.
4. Economo, C. von, Koskinas, G.N. (2008) Atlas of Cytoarchitectonics of the Adult Human Cerebral Cortex. Karger, Basel.
5. Triarhou, L.C. (2007) Pioneers in Neurology: Ernst Sträussler (1872-1959). Journal of Neurology 254: 1466-1467.
6. Sträussler, E., Koskinas, G. (1923) Über den Einfluß der Malariabehandlung der progressiven Paralyse auf den histologischen Prozeß. Wiener Medizinische Wochenschrift 73: 783-787.
7. Sträussler, E., Koskinas, G. (1925) Weitere Untersuchungen über den Einfluß der Malariabehandlung der progressiven Paralyse auf den histopathologischen Prozeß. Zeitschrift für die Gesamte Neurologie und Psychiatrie 97: 176-191.
8. Sträussler, E., Koskinas, G. (1926) Über „kolloide“, „hyaline“ Degeneration und über „Koagulationsnekrose“ im Gehirn. Zeitschrift für die Gesamte Neurologie und Psychiatrie 100: 344-374.
9. Sträussler, E., Koskinas, G. (1926) Über den spongiösen Rindenschwund, den Status spongiosus und die laminären Hirnrindenprozesse. Zeitschrift für die Gesamte Neurologie und Psychiatrie 105: 55-71.