Erwin Heinz Ackerknecht
Encyclopedia
Erwin Heinz Ackerknecht was an active and influential Trotskyist in the 1930s who had to flee Germany
in 1933 after Hitler’s rise to power. It was in the USA, the country that granted him citizenship, that Ackerknecht became an influential historian of medicine. He wrote groundbreaking works on the social and ecological dimensions of disease and was a forerunner of contemporary trends in social and cultural history
. He became the first Chair in the history of medicine at the University of Wisconsin; the second such position in the United States
.
. His father, Dr. Erin Julius Ackerknecht, was a renowned librarian, author, literary critic and professor of literary history. He studied medicine
(and sporadically economics, history of literature and arts) eventually graduating from the University of Leipzig
in 1931 with a dissertation on a study of German
medical reform in 1848. Throughout his studies Ackerknecht was affiliated with communist student groups in Freiburg
, Berlin
and Vienna
; in 1926 he joined the KJVT (Kommunistisher Jugendverband Deutschlands; Communist Youth Federation of Germany) and then the KPD (Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands; Communist Party of Germany
). As a student he was known as the leader of the KoStyFra (Kommunistische Studentenfraktion; Communist Student's Fraction). Together with R. Sobolevicius and Otto Schüssler
he founded in 1928 a small oppositional group at Leipzig
called the Bolschewistische Einheit (Bolshevik Unity). He was also affiliated with the Lenin League. In March 1934, Ackerknechtwas became one of the founding members of the United Left Opposition. Meanwhile he was expelled from the KPD. After having moved from Leipzig to Berlin, he became a member of the 'political committee' of the Left Opposition of the KPD, the "Bolshevists-Leninists, the official German branch of the International Left Opposition led by Leon Trotsky
and his son Lev Sedov. Ackerknecht closely co-operated with Sedov, Grylewicz and other prominent activists of the Trotskyist movement and became a co-editor and staff writer of the LO using the pseudonym Bauer.
When the Nazis seized power in Germany, Ackerknecht now one of the central figures of German Trotskvism went
underground. He fled Germany in June 1933, spent a short time in Czechoslovakia
and paid visit to Leon Trotsky
in exile in Turkey
. He eventually broke with Trotskyism
and Marxism
and turned his back to political activism. However, his opposition against Nazism
and right wing politics of all kinds remained unrelenting. While in exile in Paris
he earned his living as a translator and began to study ethnography
at the Musée de l'Homme
with Marcel Mauss
, Lucien Lévy-Bruhl
, and Paul Rivet
. He graduated from the Sorbonne
shortly before the outbreak of World War II
. He joined the French
army and eventually fled to southern France where he waited for several months for his American visa. He arrived in New York
in July 1941 together with his second wife.
He was first employed as a fellow in the history of medicine at Johns Hopkins University
while working as assistant curator at the American Museum of Natural History
. He was then offered a position as the University of Wisconsin's first Chair in the history of medicine. His A short history of medicine, was published in 1955 but the most active years of his academic life was when he moved to the University of Zurich
(Switzerland), a position he kept until his retirement in 1971.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
in 1933 after Hitler’s rise to power. It was in the USA, the country that granted him citizenship, that Ackerknecht became an influential historian of medicine. He wrote groundbreaking works on the social and ecological dimensions of disease and was a forerunner of contemporary trends in social and cultural history
Cultural history
The term cultural history refers both to an academic discipline and to its subject matter.Cultural history, as a discipline, at least in its common definition since the 1970s, often combines the approaches of anthropology and history to look at popular cultural traditions and cultural...
. He became the first Chair in the history of medicine at the University of Wisconsin; the second such position in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Biography
Erwin Heinz Ackerknecht was born in Stettin, now called SzczecinSzczecin
Szczecin , is the capital city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. It is the country's seventh-largest city and the largest seaport in Poland on the Baltic Sea. As of June 2009 the population was 406,427....
. His father, Dr. Erin Julius Ackerknecht, was a renowned librarian, author, literary critic and professor of literary history. He studied medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
(and sporadically economics, history of literature and arts) eventually graduating from the University of Leipzig
University of Leipzig
The University of Leipzig , located in Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, is one of the oldest universities in the world and the second-oldest university in Germany...
in 1931 with a dissertation on a study of German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
medical reform in 1848. Throughout his studies Ackerknecht was affiliated with communist student groups in Freiburg
Freiburg
Freiburg im Breisgau is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. In the extreme south-west of the country, it straddles the Dreisam river, at the foot of the Schlossberg. Historically, the city has acted as the hub of the Breisgau region on the western edge of the Black Forest in the Upper Rhine Plain...
, Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
; in 1926 he joined the KJVT (Kommunistisher Jugendverband Deutschlands; Communist Youth Federation of Germany) and then the KPD (Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands; Communist Party of Germany
Communist Party of Germany
The Communist Party of Germany was a major political party in Germany between 1918 and 1933, and a minor party in West Germany in the postwar period until it was banned in 1956...
). As a student he was known as the leader of the KoStyFra (Kommunistische Studentenfraktion; Communist Student's Fraction). Together with R. Sobolevicius and Otto Schüssler
Otto Schüssler
Otto Schüssler was a German Communist. He sometimes used the pseudonyms Oskar Fischer and Julián Suárez.Schüssler was born in 1905 to a working-class family in Leipzig...
he founded in 1928 a small oppositional group at Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
called the Bolschewistische Einheit (Bolshevik Unity). He was also affiliated with the Lenin League. In March 1934, Ackerknechtwas became one of the founding members of the United Left Opposition. Meanwhile he was expelled from the KPD. After having moved from Leipzig to Berlin, he became a member of the 'political committee' of the Left Opposition of the KPD, the "Bolshevists-Leninists, the official German branch of the International Left Opposition led by Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky , born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army....
and his son Lev Sedov. Ackerknecht closely co-operated with Sedov, Grylewicz and other prominent activists of the Trotskyist movement and became a co-editor and staff writer of the LO using the pseudonym Bauer.
When the Nazis seized power in Germany, Ackerknecht now one of the central figures of German Trotskvism went
underground. He fled Germany in June 1933, spent a short time in Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
and paid visit to Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky , born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army....
in exile in Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. He eventually broke with Trotskyism
Trotskyism
Trotskyism is the theory of Marxism as advocated by Leon Trotsky. Trotsky considered himself an orthodox Marxist and Bolshevik-Leninist, arguing for the establishment of a vanguard party of the working-class...
and Marxism
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
and turned his back to political activism. However, his opposition against Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
and right wing politics of all kinds remained unrelenting. While in exile in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
he earned his living as a translator and began to study ethnography
Ethnography
Ethnography is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group...
at the Musée de l'Homme
Musée de l'Homme
The Musée de l'Homme was created in 1937 by Paul Rivet for the 1937 Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne. It is the descendant of the Musée d'Ethnographie du Trocadéro, founded in 1878...
with Marcel Mauss
Marcel Mauss
Marcel Mauss was a French sociologist. The nephew of Émile Durkheim, Mauss' academic work traversed the boundaries between sociology and anthropology...
, Lucien Lévy-Bruhl
Lucien Lévy-Bruhl
Lucien Lévy-Brühl was a French scholar trained in philosophy, who made contributions to the budding fields of sociology and ethnology. His primary field of study involved primitive mentality....
, and Paul Rivet
Paul Rivet
Paul Rivet was a French ethnologist, who founded the Musée de l'Homme in 1937. He was also one of the founders of the Comité de vigilance des intellectuels antifascistes, an antifascist organization created in the wake of the February 6, 1934 far right riots.Rivet proposed a theory according to...
. He graduated from the Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
shortly before the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He joined the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
army and eventually fled to southern France where he waited for several months for his American visa. He arrived in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in July 1941 together with his second wife.
He was first employed as a fellow in the history of medicine at Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
while working as assistant curator at the American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...
. He was then offered a position as the University of Wisconsin's first Chair in the history of medicine. His A short history of medicine, was published in 1955 but the most active years of his academic life was when he moved to the University of Zurich
University of Zurich
The University of Zurich , located in the city of Zurich, is the largest university in Switzerland, with over 25,000 students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of theology, law, medicine and a new faculty of philosophy....
(Switzerland), a position he kept until his retirement in 1971.