“Arthur Fränkel, the author of this thesis, was born in Neustadt in Upper Silesia on 20 May 1873; Jewish; the son of the Kgl. Kommerzienrat (royal councillor of commerce, honorary title during the German empire) Abraham Fränkel, factory owner in Neustadt, Upper Silesia. He attended primary school and the humanistic grammar school of his father’s town, from which he graduated on Easter 1893 with the certificate of maturity”, Arthur Fränkel states in the curriculum vitae of his dissertation.

Education and Places of Work

Arthur Fränkel’s father ran a large linen weaving mill in Neustadt. His grandfather Samuel Fränkel had founded the “Fränkelsche Fabrik” (Fränkel Factory), which quickly expanded into one of the largest textile production facilities at the time.

After studying national economics for two semesters, Arthur Fränkel switched to medicine in 1894. He completed his studies in Munich and Berlin. He received his doctorate in Berlin in 1898 with the thesis “Die Wirkung der Narcotica auf die motorischen Vorderhornzellen des Rückenmarkes”. He received his licence to practise medicine in 1899.

He practised as a specialist for gastrointestinal and metabolic diseases in Berlin from 1909.

After 1933

Arthur Fränkel’s health insurance licence was revoked in 1937. After his licence to practise medicine was revoked on 30 September 1938, he was admitted as a “Krankenbehandler” for gastrointestinal diseases (Nazi terminology for Jewish doctors permitted to treat Jewish patients only). He continued to treat Jewish patients in Berlin until 1940.

Escape to Chile

Arthur Fränkel fled to Chile in 1940. No further biographical data, especially about Fränkel’s life in Chile, is known to date.

Arthur Fränkel died in Santiago de Chile in July 1949 at the age of 76.