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Karl Gustav Theodor Simon (2 November 1810 in Berlin – 11 May 1857 in Zehlendorf, Berlin) was a German physician, pathologist, and dermatologist and the founder of dermatopathology.

Life

Gustav Simon began his medical studies in 1829 in Berlin. In 1831, he moved to Bonn to attend lectures by the anatomist, physiologist, and biologist Johannes Peter Müller. The following year, he returned to Berlin and earned his doctorate in medicine in 1833 with a dissertation in which he questioned the claimed styptic properties of Aqua Binelli (Binelli's water), a purportedly haemostatic compound invented in 1797 by the Italian Fedele Binelli, and creosote.

Gustav Simon remained a practicing physician in Berlin but continued to work on scientific publications. His microscopic studies and histopathological works were included in Ferdinand von Hebra's Atlas der Hautkrankheiten (Atlas of Skin Diseases).

In 1842, he took a position as a physician for the needy. It was during this time that he discovered and described the hair follicle mite. In 1844, Simon qualified as a lecturer for general pathology and therapy, but later also gave lectures in dermatology, which were well attended. His 1848 first edition of 'Skin Diseases Illustrated by Anatomical Investigations' (Die Hautkrankheiten durch anatomische Untersuchungen erläutert) was the first textbook of dermatopathology, and comprised microscopic comparative studies of healthy and diseased skin.

In 1848, Simon was appointed director of the Department of Skin Diseases and Syphilis at the Charité hospital in Berlin. He became one of the leading European specialists for skin and venereal diseases. In 1850, study trips took him to England and France.

In 1853, Simon showed signs of neurosyphilis from an earlier infection. His work in microscopy was affected by problems with his vision. His normally composed personality gave way to irritability, aggression and confusion, leading to his removal from the departmental directorship at the Charité, being replaced by Felix von Bärensprung. Eventually, Simon began to show signs of paralysis. The nature of the disease was not yet understood and his subsequent stays in sanatoriums in Potsdam, Eberswalde, and Leubus brought no improvement to his condition.

Gustav Simon died in 1857 in the Schweizerhof Nerve Clinic founded by Heinrich Laehr in Berlin's Zehlendorf district.

Works

• On the Styptic Power of Binelli's Water and Creosote (De aquae Binelli et kreosoti virtute styptica). Dissertation for the attainment of a doctorate, Berlin, 1833
• On a Mite Living in the Diseased and Normal Hair Follicles of Humans (Über eine in den kranken und normalen Haarsäcken des Menschen lebende Milbe). Berlin, 1842
• Skin Diseases Illustrated by Anatomical Investigations (Die Hautkrankheiten durch anatomische Untersuchungen erläutert). Berlin, 1848
• Report on the Syphilis Department in the Year 1849 (Bericht über die Abteilung für Syphilis im Jahre 1849). Charité Annals, Berlin, 1849
• On the Treatment of Gonorrhoea in Men with Caustic Injections (Über die Behandlung des Männertrippers mit kaustischen Einspritzungen). Charité Annals, Berlin, 1853

References

1. Ernst G. Jung: 30 Jahre Aktuelle Dermatologie: ein Jubiläumsband. Thieme, Stuttgart 2005, S. 46 ISBN 3-13-141391-3
2. Tsiamis, Costas; Sgantzou, Ioanna; Popoti, Panagiota; Papavramidou, Niki; Sgantzos, Markos (2020-03-06). "Dimitrios Mavrokordatos Disproving the Hemostatic Myth of Aqua Binelli". Surgical Innovation. 27 (3): 307–310. doi:10.1177/1553350620907428. ISSN 1553-3506. PMID 32141402. S2CID 212567440.
3. Simon, Carl Gustav Theodor (1833). De aquae Binelli et Kreosoti virtute styptica: diss. inaug (in Latin). Nietack.
4. Ferdinand von Hebra: Atlas der Hautkrankheiten. Kaiserliche Akademie der Wissenschaften, k.k. Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Wien 1856 Online
5. Simon, Gustav (1842). "Ueber eine in den kranken und normalen Haarsäcken des Menschen lebende Milbe" [On a Mite Living in the Diseased and Normal Hair Follicles of Humans]. In Müller, Johannes (ed.). Archiv für Anatomie, Physiologie und Wissenschaftliche Medicin [Archive for Anatomy, Physiology and Scientific Medicine] (in German). Vol. 1842. Berlin: Verlag von Veit & Comp. p. 221.
6. David A. Mehregan: Dermatopathology: Past and Present. Journal of The Egyptian Women's Dermatologic Society, 3, 1, S. 1, 2006 "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-11-21. Retrieved 2024-02-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
7. Gustav Simon: Die Hautkrankheiten durch anatomische Untersuchungen erläutert. 2. Auflage, G. Reimer, Berlin 1851 Digital copy at Google Books
8. Scholz, Albrecht (1999). Geschichte der dermatologie in Deutschland. Berlin Heidelberg New York : Springer. ISBN 978-3-540-66064-4.
9. G. A. Rost und K. Winkler: Kurze Chronik der Entwicklung der Dermatologie in Berlin. In: Archiv für Dermatologische Forschung, 244, S. 6, 1972
10. ^ "Karl Gustav Theodor Simon". www.whonamedit.com. Retrieved 2024-02-03.
11. Scholz, Albrecht (1999), Scholz, Albrecht (ed.), "Dermatohistopathologie", Geschichte der Dermatologie in Deutschland (in German), Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer, pp. 205–212, doi:10.1007/978-3-642-58502-9_7, ISBN 978-3-642-58502-9, retrieved 2024-02-04
12. Tsirozoglou, Konstantinos; Shihada, Amir; Georgakopoulos, Panagiotis; Mavrommatis, Evaggelos (2022). "Remembering Karl Gustav Theodor Simon (1810–1857)". Indian Journal of Dermatology. 67 (6): 719–720. doi:10.4103/ijd.ijd_559_22. ISSN 0019-5154. PMC 10043721. PMID 36998841.

• 1810 births
• 1857 deaths
• 19th-century German physicians
• Prussian physicians
• German dermatologists
• German pathologists