Axenfeld

AXENFELD, Theodor (Theodor Axenfeld), one of the greatest contemporary ophthalmologists, author and editor of a popular collective guide to ophthalmology, translated into all European languages. Born in 1867 in the city of Smyrna. Graduated from university in 1890. From 1896, he served as assistant at the Breslau eye clinic, where he worked under the direction of Professor Uthoff. From 1901, Axenfeld held the chair of ophthalmology in Freiburg (Breisgau). From 1899, he has been editor of the "Klinisches Monatsblatt für Augenheilkunde", in which a number of prominent foreign scholars also participate. The Freiburg eye clinic under the direction of A. has become in the full sense of the word an international ophthalmological school, in which many Russian ophthalmologists have worked and continue to work to this day.

Among the works of A., his works in the field of eye bacteriology should be mentioned. A microorganism - the causative agent of chronic inflammation of the mucous membrane of the eye (diplobacillus Morax-Axenfeld) - was first described by A. and named after him. The book by A. "Die Bakteriologie in der Augenheilkunde", first published in 1903, received universal recognition. A. also devotes much attention to the study of trachoma, to which an extensive monograph published in 1914 is dedicated. In addition, many works concerning questions of pathological anatomy of the eye belong to the pen of A. In recent years, A. has been primarily engaged in questions of ophthalmological surgical technique, into which he has introduced a number of substantial improvements.