Who was the man who discovered the "Lewy bodies"?

In 1912, Fritz Heinrich Lewy described neuronal inclusions in the brain of patients who had suffered from Paralysis agitans (i.e., Parkinson's disease). Later, these findings became the so‐called “Lewy bodies.” However, little is known about the man who made this discovery. Our aim was to inves...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Movement disorders 2010-09, Vol.25 (12), p.1765-1773
Main Authors: Rodrigues e Silva, Antonio M., Geldsetzer, Felix, Holdorff, Bernd, Kielhorn, Friedrich W., Balzer-Geldsetzer, Monika, Oertel, Wolfgang H., Hurtig, Howard, Dodel, Richard
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Germany
History, 20th Century
Humans
Lewy
Lewy Bodies
Lewy body dementia
medical history
Parkinson's disease
Parkinsonism
Pathology - history
United States
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Summary:In 1912, Fritz Heinrich Lewy described neuronal inclusions in the brain of patients who had suffered from Paralysis agitans (i.e., Parkinson's disease). Later, these findings became the so‐called “Lewy bodies.” However, little is known about the man who made this discovery. Our aim was to investigate Lewy's private and professional life and to gather information for a detailed biography. We contacted over 100 archives, libraries, and museums in Germany, Poland, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and United States. Over 300 documents, publications, and photos were collected. Lewy was born in Berlin, Germany in 1885 and lived there until 1933. After his dismissal on racial grounds by the Nazis, Lewy emigrated to England in 1933 and to the United States of America in 1934, where he lived and worked until his death in 1950. This article gives a summary of Lewy's life and briefly presents his contribution to German and American neurology. © 2010 Movement Disorder Society
ISSN:0885-3185
1531-8257
DOI:10.1002/mds.22956