title: Who was the man who discovered the "Lewy bodies"?
abstract: In 1912, Fritz Heinrich Lewy described neuronal inclusions in the brain of patients who had suffered from Paralysis agitans (i.e., Parkinson's disease). Later, these findings became the so-called "Lewy bodies." However, little is known about the man who made this discovery. Our aim was to investigate Lewy's private and professional life and to gather information for a detailed biography. We contacted over 100 archives, libraries, and museums in Germany, Poland, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and United States. Over 300 documents, publications, and photos were collected. Lewy was born in Berlin, Germany in 1885 and lived there until 1933. After his dismissal on racial grounds by the Nazis, Lewy emigrated to England in 1933 and to the United States of America in 1934, where he lived and worked until his death in 1950. This article gives a summary of Lewy's life and briefly presents his contribution to German and American neurology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Philipps University, Marburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Antonio M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Rodrigues e Silva
authors.forename: Felix
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Geldsetzer
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Holdorff
authors.forename: Friedrich W
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Kielhorn
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Balzer-Geldsetzer
authors.forename: Wolfgang H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Oertel
authors.forename: Howard
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hurtig
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dodel
mesh_terms: D005858:Germany; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D016631:Lewy Bodies; D010336:Pathology / Q000266:history*; D014481:United States