HERMAN ZONDEK

On the occasion of his eightieth birthday September 4, 1967

Prtrfcssor Hcrman Zondek is ont' of thv pionccrs in clinical endocrinology. His artivr period in this sphrrc has lasted for more than five decades, and w e n during the later years scvcral articlcs from his hand bear witricvs of his drcp knowledge of this ficld of mcdi- cine. Deep knowledge not only of endo- crinology but also of adjacent areas made him one of thc outstanding clinical cndo- crinolo,gists of our time. I t may seein unbe- lievable today that anybody could ever havc undertaken thc task of writing a tcst-hook in tmdocrinology by himself. Whrn firs1 pub- lished in Germany in 1923, Zondrk's text- tmok was one of thc first in endocrinology, arid one of the best. T h e book has krpt abreast with the rnortnous progress in nwdi- cinc, and appeared in many revisrd and enlarged rditioris in ill1 major languages. T h e book reflects Zondek's tremendous clinical knowledge and experience, chicfly derived from his patient material. I t also demonstrates thr impact of Herman Zondek's life-work.

I t is not easy to choose today among his prolific writings and say: This particular work confirms the ingenuity and iinagi- nation of Herman Zondek. But I would not be surprised if he himself, if given thr choice,

\vou ld pick out his carly (1918-20) descrip- tion and rlucidation of the changes in t h t heart in thyroid insufficiency, the myxcdc- matous heart. Not only hrcausc of its master- ful dcscription of thc 1)"tho-physiologicaI fraturcs of this clinical entity - but even niorc so Ixxausc these early papers and sovrral latcr ones display so much imngina- tivc thinking and critical analysis. IHernian Zondck's articles from fivr decades provide the rcadcr with a survey of thc de- velopment of cndocrinology during its most fruitful years, f rom the. spcculativc era to its prescnt period with its closc relations to the hasic: srienres. It is interesting to note how often his thinking has followed paths which would not reach their goals until much later, iiot until hio:hcmistry had provided informi- tion rcgarding the structure and mechanisms of actions of hormones.

When reading Herman Zondek's papers today one feels great satisfaction that he has bccn given the privilege to live long cnough to see how often his ideas and predictions were right. This kind of experi- rn re is rare in an as rapidly developing spherc of medicine as endocrinology.

ROLF LUFT Stockholm