Living history-autobiography: Hans-Rudolf Wiedemann in a half century of german pediatric genetics
✍ Scribed by Wiedemann, Hans-Rudolf
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1992
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 1010 KB
- Volume
- 43
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0148-7299
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
BEGINNINGS
I was born on 16 February 1915 in Bremen. When the First World War broke out, my father-a physicianhad been ordered to the Western Front, attached to an infantry regiment. It was not until 1918 that he was discharged from military service. I grew up in Bremen, where I received a classical education at a high school steeped in tradition. Indeed, while I was a pupil there, the school celebrated its 400th anniversary.
My father was not the only physician in the family. One of his father's brothers and one of his father's cousins had chosen the same profession, the latter being the Director of the Medical Policlinic of the University of Kiel for many years. On my mother's side of the family there were six physicians (two female, four male), four of whom were university lecturers (one female, three male). Undoubtedly the most prominent and distinguished of the four was my uncle, Karl Wilmanns (1873-1945). He was a student of Kraepelin and Director of the Psychiatry Clinic at the University of Heidelberg from 1918 until 1933, when he was dismissed from the position by the Nazis for publicly (and quite accurately) proclaiming Adolf Hitler to be a psychopath 1391.
MY FATHER
From youth onward my father was socially minded and showed a great interest in the well-being of others; consequently, he chose to become a medical practitioner. Before going into private practice, he worked as a ship doctor for the "Norddeutscher Lloyd" (Lloyd of Northern Germany); during this time he travelled to East Asia, South America, and six times to the United States, gaining experience that doubtlessly widened his outlook. In Bremen, he was highly respected for his extraordinary dedication to the needs of his patients.
Perhaps largely due to the fact that my mother died so early, a close relationship based on mutual trust developed between my father and myself-his only son. I always followed my father's example closely, and this