Commemoration of the German Society of Gastroenterology
In memory of

Prof. Dr. med.
Jacob Kaufmann
1860 - 1944

Member since 1925

Emigration to the USA in 1894

Co-founder of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA)

Archiv für Verdauungs-Krankheiten 1913
Archiv für Verdauungs-Krankheiten 1913
Co-editor of the successor journal of the
Co-editor of the successor journal of the "Boas Archiv"

Prof. Dr. med. Jacob Kaufmann

  • Cologne, 3‌0‌.‌0‌5‌.‌1‌8‌6‌0‌
  • New York, 1‌3‌.‌1‌0‌.‌1‌9‌4‌4‌
  • Member since 1925
  • New York
  • Specialist in internal medicine and early gastroenterologist

Education and Places of Work

Kaufmann studied medicine at the University of Strasbourg, where he passed the state examination in October 1884.

He undertook his training in internal medicine at the Strasbourg University Medical Clinic under Adolf Kussmaul and Bernhard Naunyn. Kaufmann then interned with Ismar Boas at his Berlin polyclinic and specialist practice for gastrointestinal and metabolic diseases.

 

Emigration to the USA in 1894

Kaufmann reached New York from Hamburg on 10 October 1894 aboard the HAPAG fast steamer Normannia. He became a US citizen in July 1900.

 

Workplaces

Jacob Kaufmann worked as an attending physician with a very early focus on gastroenterology at the department of internal medicine of the German Hospital and Dispensary in New York (since 1918, Lenox Hill Hospital). He was one of the consultants at Lenox Hill Hospital, along with Max Einhorn. He also ran his own practice in New York.

Kaufmann was one of the 17 founders of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) in 1897, he served as its president in 1912/13, and was made an honorary member of the AGA in 1941. He was a board member of the American College of Gastroenterology and the Rudolf Virchow Medical Society in the City of New York.

Archiv für Verdauungs-Krankheiten 1913
Archiv für Verdauungs-Krankheiten 1913

Kaufmann was part of the close circle of students and friends of Ismar Boas. He had been a member of the editorial board of the Archiv für Verdauungs- und Stoffwechselkrankheiten (“Boas Archiv”) since 1923 and remained co-editor of the successor journal Gastroenterologia after the S. Karger publishing house had to leave Berlin and resettled in Switzerland in 1938 under pressure from the Nazi authorities.

Co-editor of the successor journal of the
Co-editor of the successor journal of the "Boas Archiv"

Jacob Kaufmann died in New York on 13 October 1944 at the age of 84.

 

Publications

  1. Mangel an Magenschleim ( Amyxorrhea gastrica ), seine pathologische Bedeutung und seine Beziehung zur Hyperacidität und zum Magengeschwür. Arch Verdauungskr 1907; 13: 616-626
  2. Bemerkungen über die pathologische Bedeutung der Funktionsstörungen des Magens, Arch Verdauungskr 1913; 19: 85-97
  3. Lymphocytosis as a sign of constitutional derangement in chronic diseases of the digestive tract. Trans Am Gastroenterol Assoc 1914, 17: 13-21
  4. The role of spasticity in diseases of the digestive tract. A case of visceral tetany, causing cholangitis and pancreatitis. Am J Med Sci 1923; 166: 67-72
  5. Die einmalige Probefrühstück-Untersuchung als ergiebigste Methode für die klinische Prüfung der Magenfunktion. Arch Verdauungskr 1928; 43: 230-243 (Ismar Boas zum 70. Geburtstag); darin einige biographische Angaben

Sources and Further Reading
Sources
back

Sources/Literature/Weblinks

Biographie of Prof. Dr. med. Jacob Kaufmann

Literature

  • Boyle JD. The American Gastroenterological Association. The first seventy-five years. Gastroenterol 1973; 65: 1038,1040,1073
  • Friedenwald J. The early history of the American Gastroenterological Association: its aims, adversities,aspirations and success. Gastroenterol 1962; 42: 722-733
  • Hoffmann KF. Highlights of the history of the Rudolf Virchow Medical Society in the City of New York. Proc Rudolf Virchow Med Soc New York 1961; 19: 184-189
  • Kirsner JB. The development of American Gastroenterology. New York: Raven Press; 1990: 231
  • Lubarsch O. Ein bewegtes Gelehrtenleben. Erinnerungen und Erlebnisse. Kämpfe und Gedanken. Berlin: Springer Verlag; 1931: 26
  • o.V. Nachruf für Dr. Jakob Kaufmann, Gastroenterologist on Lenox Hill Hospital. New York Times, 14.10.1944: 13