Josef Gerstmann

Josef Gerstmann ( born July 17, 1887 in Lviv, † March 23, 1969 in New York ) was an Austrian neurologist.

Life and work

Gerstmann studied medicine in Vienna from 1906 to 1912 and obtained his doctorate in 1912. He served in World War I as a medical officer and received high bravery awards. He then worked at the psychiatric- neurological clinic until he Emil Redlich (1866-1930) succeeded in 1930 as head of the mental institution Maria Theresa Schlössel in Vienna. There he had his habilitation in 1921 and was awarded the title of professor in 1929. As a Jew, he fled in 1938 from the National Socialists in the United States, where he settled and his research inter alia, in St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Washington on business and also practiced.

He was a member of the American Neurological Academy and the Society for Neurology and Psychiatry in Rosario, Argentina.

He is known for his depictions of the Gerstmann syndrome, Gerstmann - Sträussler - Scheinker syndrome and Gerstmann - tests, a further development of the Unterberger - Tretversuchs.