Ludwig Stieda (1837–1918)

Abstract

CHRISTIAN HERMAN LUDWIG STIEDA, an eminent German anatomist, was born at Riga on November 19, 1837, the son of a tradesman. His medical education was carried out at Dorpat, where his teachers in anatomy were Reissner, Bidder and Kupffer, and he won a silver medal in anatomy. After qualifying in 1861 he went to Giessen, where Leuckart inspired him with an interest in the anatomy of worms, and later to Erlangen, where he studied under Gerlach and Herz. In 1862 he moved to Vienna, where he attended lectures by Oppolzer, Skoda, Hebra, Hyrtl and Bruecke, with the last of whom he studied histology. In 1864 he was appointed prosector at Dorpat and in the following year lecturer on comparative anatomy in the veterinary school there. In 1866 he was elected extraordinary professor of anatomy and nine years later full professor in succession to his former teacher Reissner. He held this office for ten years, during the last three of which he was dean of the medical faculty. In 1885 he was appointed director of the anatomical institute at Konigsberg, where he remained until his retirement in 1912. His death took place at Giessen on his birthday on November 19, 1918. As well as being a successful and attractive lecturer, Stieda was a man of very wide interests and a prolific writer, as is shown by the bibliography of his works compiled by Peisler (Anat. Anzeiger, 52, 134-42 ; 1919-20). His anatomical investigations included comparative studies of the central nervous system in vertebrates, the formation of bone, and the development of the lungs, thymus, thyroid and carotid glands. His interest in the history of medicine is shown by his biographies of naturalists and medical men. He was also the author of several articles and reviews on archaeological, anthropological and ethnographical subjects.