Max Bielschowsky was a German neuropathologist born in Breslau.

After receiving his medical doctorate from the University of Munich in 1893, he worked with Ludwig Edinger

Ludwig Edinger

Ludwig Edinger was an influential German anatomist and neurologist and co-founder of the University of Frankfurt. In 1914 he was also appointed the first German professor of neurology....

 (1855-1918) at the Senckenberg

Senckenberg Museum

The Naturmuseum Senckenberg in Frankfurt is the second largest museum of natural history in Germany. It is particularly popular with children, who enjoy the extensive collection of dinosaur skeletons: Senckenberg boasts the largest exhibition of large dinosaurs in Europe. One particular treasure is...

 Pathology Institute in Frankfurt-am-Main. At Senckenberg he learned histological

Histology

Histology is the study of the microscopic anatomy of cells and tissues of plants and animals. It is performed by examining cells and tissues commonly by sectioning and staining; followed by examination under a light microscope or electron microscope...

 staining techniques from Carl Weigert (1845-1904). From 1896 to 1904 he worked in Emanuel Mendel

Emanuel Mendel

Emanuel Mendel was a German neurologist and psychiatrist who was a university professor and director of a polyclinic in Berlin. He was born in Bunzlau, Lower Silesia; ....

's (1839-1907) psychiatric laboratory in 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...

. In 1904 he joined Oskar Vogt

Oskar Vogt

Oskar Vogt was a German physician and neurologist. He was born in Husum - Schleswig-Holstein...

 (1870-1959) at the neurobiological laboratory at the University of Berlin, where he remained until 1933. Later in his career he worked at the psychiatric clinic at the University of Utrecht, and at the Cajal Institute

Cajal Institute

The Cajal Institute in Madrid is the largest neuroscience research center in Spain.The histologist Santiago Ramón y Cajal founded the Laboratorio de Investigaciones Biológicas in 1902 which later became the Instituto Cajal upon his retirement in 1922.The scientific activities of the institute...

 in Madrid

Madrid

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

.

Bielschowsky made important contributions in his research of tuberous sclerosis

Tuberous sclerosis

Tuberous sclerosis or tuberous sclerosis complex is a rare multi-system genetic disease that causes non-malignant tumors to grow in the brain and on other vital organs such as the kidneys, heart, eyes, lungs, and skin. A combination of symptoms may include seizures, developmental delay, behavioral...

, amaurotic

Amaurosis

Amaurosis is vision loss or weakness that occurs without an apparent lesion affecting the eye. It may result from either a medical condition or from excess acceleration, as in flight...

 idiocy, paralysis agitans, Huntington’s chorea

Huntington's disease

Huntington's disease, chorea, or disorder , is a neurodegenerative genetic disorder that affects muscle coordination and leads to cognitive decline and dementia. It typically becomes noticeable in middle age. HD is the most common genetic cause of abnormal involuntary writhing movements called chorea...

 and myotonia congenita

Myotonia congenita

Congenital myotonia is a genetic, neuromuscular channelopathy that affects skeletal muscles . It is congenital, meaning that it is present from birth. Amongst other problems, it causes delayed relaxation of the muscles and rigidity...

. He is remembered for his histopathological

Histopathology

Histopathology refers to the microscopic examination of tissue in order to study the manifestations of disease...

 work with disseminated sclerosis, the use of an histological silver

Silver

Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...

 stain for impregnation of nerve fibers, and with Stanley Cobb

Stanley Cobb

-External links:* can be found at The Center for the History of Medicine at the Countway Library, Harvard Medical School....

, the development of intravital silver staining. The eponymous "Bielschowsky silver stain" technique was an improvement on the method developed by Ramon y Cajal (1852-1934).

Selected written works

• Die Silberimprägnation der Achsencylinder; Neurologisches Zentralblatt, Leipzig, 1902, 21: 579-84. Neurologisches Zentralblatt, Leipzig, 1903, 22: 997-1006; (Bielschowsky stains).
• Allgemeine Histologie und Histopathologie des Nervensystems. In: Max Lewandowsky (publisher), Handbuch der Neurologie. Volume 1, Berlin, 1910.
• Herpes Zoster. In: Max Lewandowsky
  Max Lewandowsky
  thumb|upright|Portrait Max Heinrich LewandowskyMax Lewandowsky was a German neurologist, who was a native of Berlin. He studied medicine at the University of Marburg, Berlin and Halle, and earned his doctorate in 1904. Since 1905 he worked in Berlin-Friedrichshain hospital. His co-workers were...
  
  (publisher): Handbuch der Neurologie. Volume 5, Berlin, 1910.
• Über spätinfantile familiäre amaurotische Idiotie mit Kleinhirnsymptomen. Deutsche Zeitschrift für Nervenheilkunde, 1914, 50: 7-29. (Bielschowsky’s amaurotic idiocy).