Hot off the press: Jewish Miniatures on Arthur Schlossmann

New Release: Arthur Schlossmann: Pediatrician, Social Policy Advocate, and Public Health Educator by Matthis Krischel, Silke Fehlemann, and Benjamin Kuntz

Arthur Schlossmann (1867–1932) was a pioneer of modern infant care and a leading advocate of social hygiene during the German Empire and the Weimar Republic. His work embodied a vision of medicine that integrated the laboratory, the clinic, and society. In Dresden, he founded the world’s first specialized infant hospital in 1898. Beginning in 1907, he served as professor of pediatrics at the Academy for Practical Medicine in Düsseldorf, the predecessor institution of today’s Medical Faculty at Heinrich Heine University. As the founder of the Association for Infant Care in the Düsseldorf administrative district, the physician and social reformer fought to reduce infant mortality. After World War I, he served as a member of the Prussian Constituent Assembly, heading the list of candidates for the German Democratic Party. By organizing the monumental exhibition on Health Care, Social Welfare, and Physical Education (GeSoLei), which took place in Düsseldorf in 1926, he set new standards in public health education. A monument erected on the grounds of the Düsseldorf University Hospital still commemorates the “Savior of Children” to this day.