Salomon Eberhard Henschen

HENSCHEN, Salomon Eberhard (born in 1847), a famous contemporary neuropathologist; born in Uppsala, where he also received his secondary education. Upon completing it, he studied botany and traveled extensively, spending 2 years in Brazil, where he collected a very rich botanical collection. After graduating from the medical faculty in 1874, he continued to improve his skills both in Sweden and abroad (Germany). From 1882 to 1900, he held the chair of internal diseases in Uppsala, and from 1900 to 1912, he was a professor in Stockholm at the Karolinska Institute (he retired in 1912). In 1924, Henschen visited V. I. Lenin for consultation during his illness. Henschen's major works concern the pathology of the brain; a large number of works are devoted to questions about the visual pathways and centers: on the basis of his research, he confirmed the doctrine of the localization of visual centers in the region of the fissura calcarina, where the area striata is located. According to Henschen's doctrine, both throughout the entire visual pathway and in the visual centers of the cerebral cortex, there is a projection of the retina, i.e., the arrangement of elements corresponds to their arrangement in the retina; such a projection explains "hemianopsie en quadrant." Henschen's main opponent is Monakow (Zurich), who spoke out against the projection of the retina and against the strict localization of centers near the fissura calcarina. Henschen has works on the centers of hearing, smell, and touch. A great many works are devoted to questions of aphasia. There are also works on diseases of the spinal cord, the peripheral nervous system, and neuroses. In internal medicine, there are works by Henschen on the diseases of almost all organs. Henschen also wrote on social topics regarding the fight against tuberculosis, alcoholism, and prostitution; he wrote a history of Swedish medicine. He is a member of the Academy of Sciences in Sweden and a member of many scientific societies in Sweden and abroad, and a member of the Society of Neuropathologists and Psychiatrists in Moscow and Leningrad. By 1926, he had published 305 scientific works. The most important of them are: "Klinische u. anatomische Beiträge zur Pathologie des Gehirns" (Vol. I–II, Upsala, 1890–1924); "Behandlung der Erkrankungen des Gehirns u. seiner Häute" (Handbuch der gesamten Therapie, ed. by F. Penzoldt u. R. Stintzing, Vol. IV, Jena, 1917); "Sur le centre cortical de la vision" (Congrès international de médecine, Section d'ophthalmologie, P., 1900).