Julius Wagner-Jauregg

Who was Julius Wagner-Jauregg?

Julius Wagner-Jauregg (Austrian German: [ˈjuːli̯ʊs ˈvaːɡnɐ ˈjaʊrɛk]; 7 March 1857 – 27 September 1940) was an Austrian physician who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1927, and is the first psychiatrist to have done so. Julius Wagner-Jauregg was born Julius Wagner on in Wels, Upper Austria, the son of Adolph Johann Wagner and Ludovika Jauernigg Ranzoni. His family name was changed to "Wagner von Jauregg" when his father was given the title of "Ritter von Jauregg" (a hereditary title of nobility) in 1883 by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The family name was then contracted to "Wagner-Jauregg". He attended the Schottengymnasium in Vienna before going on to study Medicine at the University of Vienna from 1874 to 1880, where he also studied with Salomon Stricker in the Institute of General and Experimental Pathology.

Hence he retained the name Julius Wagner Ritter von Jauregg until 1918 when the empire was dissolved, and nobility was abolished.

Historical significance

His Nobel award was "for his discovery of the therapeutic value of malaria inoculation in the treatment of dementia paralytica".