The medical term carcinoid, used to describe a specific type of tumor, was introduced by Siegfried Oberndorfer in 1907. Born in Munich in 1876, he became a specialist in pathology and medicine, shaping early twentieth-century diagnostic standards through his clinical research and service in both the German Reich and Turkey before his death in 1944.
Early Career and Education
Oberndorfer completed his medical training in Munich and Kiel, receiving his doctorate in 1900. His early professional years included an assistantship under Friedrich Wilhelm Zahn in Geneva. In 1901, he served as a ship's doctor, managing an outbreak of plague on a route between Hamburg and Brazil. By 1902, he returned to the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München to assist Otto Bollinger at the pathological institute. He eventually assumed leadership of the pathological institute at the Rechts der Isar Hospital in 1906, where he presented a thesis concerning chronic appendicitis.
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In 1910, Oberndorfer took charge of the pathology department at the Schwabing Clinic in Munich. His tenure there was interrupted by the onset of World War I in August 1914. He volunteered for military medical service, operating in a field hospital on the western front until 1916. He spent the remainder of the conflict serving as an army pathologist. During this time, he performed detailed autopsies on soldiers killed in combat to analyze potential therapies for severe injuries. The instruments he utilized, alongside his scientific notes and personal correspondence, remain housed at the Schwabing Clinic.
Exile and Final Years
The political environment in Germany shifted in 1933. On April 1, the Nazi regime removed Oberndorfer from his position at the Schwabing Clinic due to his Jewish ancestry, alongside colleagues Otto Neubauer and David Mandelbaum. He relocated to Turkey in autumn 1933 following an invitation from Istanbul University. There, he served as a full professor and director of the Institute for General and Experimental Pathology. In 1937, his work shifted to the Institute for Cancer Research. He remained in Istanbul until his death in 1944 caused by a mediastinal tumor.
Major Publications
Oberndorfer contributed significantly to medical literature, particularly in the study of tumors. His foundational work on carcinoid tumors appeared in the Frankfurter Zeitschrift für Pathologie in 1907. In 1922, he contributed to Lehman’s Medizinische Atlanten with a study on abdominal site images. His later work included detailed examinations of intestinal tumors in the 1929 Handbuch der pathologischen Anatomie, followed by his 1931 research on prostate and testicular tumors.
Fast facts
- Born: 1876, Munich
- Died: 1944, Istanbul
- Nationality: German Reich
- Medical Specialization: Pathology
- Notable Contribution: Coined the term carcinoid in 1907
- Final Academic Role: Director of the Institute for Cancer Research, Istanbul
Questions readers ask
What did Siegfried Oberndorfer do during World War I?
He served as a volunteer doctor in a field hospital on the western front and later as an army pathologist, performing autopsies to study war injuries.
Why did he leave Germany in 1933?
He was dismissed from the Schwabing Clinic by the Nazi regime due to his Jewish ancestry.
Achievements
- Fields: medicine and pathology
