Alfred Blaschko

BLASCHKO, Alfred (1858–1922), a well-known German figure in the field of combating venereal diseases. He began his practical medical career among the poor strata of the population in Berlin. Blaschko was to a certain extent a self-taught dermatologist, which did not prevent him from becoming a major specialist in this field. Among his works on dermatology, one must note: 1) research on the structure and embryonic development of the skin, and 2) on the innervation of the skin. In the last years of his life, Blaschko worked on compiling a guide to skin diseases in the "Handbuch Kraus-Brugsch". Blaschko also studied venereal diseases and owns valuable research in the field of mercury therapy. He was one of the first to emphasize the importance of abortive treatment in the prevention of syphilis and gonorrhea. Regarding the latter, he developed a method of early treatment that became very popular. Blaschko was particularly interested in the statistics of venereal diseases. On his initiative and with his active participation, several censuses of venereal patients were conducted in Germany. Blaschko owns a number of valuable statistical works on the spread of venereal diseases. Both in the field of dermatology and even more so in the field of syphilidology and venereology, Blaschko was not only a major specialist, but also a public health physician, a typical, however, representative of liberal-humanitarian ideas who paid special attention to the problem of combating venereal diseases as a social phenomenon: he was the initiator of the construction of a leper colony in Memel. Blaschko paid special attention to the study of occupational dermatoses, especially eczema as an occupational disease. Having organized, together with Neisser, in 1902, the German Society for the Fight against Venereal Diseases, Blaschko became the ideological inspirer and most active participant in all the initiatives of the society, which, having subjected a number of problems of the public struggle against venereal diseases to in-depth study, managed to achieve the implementation of fairly major practical measures (taking into account the socio-political conditions of life in Germany). Blaschko devoted much attention to the issues of combating the regulation of prostitution, the development of rational legislation to combat venereal diseases, and sanitary enlightenment of the population. The 1927 law on combating venereal diseases in Germany, which legally abolished regulation, is largely the brainchild of Blaschko. Blaschko authored a large number of popular leaflets and brochures; seriously ill, a few days before his death, he wrote "20 Tips for Young People". It is also necessary to note his editorial work in the journals of the society—"Mitteilungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft zur Bekämpfung der Geschlechtskrankheiten" and "Zeitschrift für Bekämpfung d. Geschlechtskrankheiten". The crown of his theoretical works in the field of the public struggle against venereal diseases is the major work published in 1920—"Die Hygiene der Geschlechtskrankheiten", where the problem of combating venereal diseases as a social phenomenon is clearly unfolded. This work was translated into Russian under the title—"Foundations of the Public Struggle Against Venereal Diseases". Only a few years before his death, Blaschko received the title of professor honoris causa.