Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences
Volume 43, Issue 2, 2015, Pages 334-344

Ilya Mark Scheinker: Controversial Neuroscientist and Refugee from National Socialist Europe (Review) (Open Access)

Zeidman L.A.* , Ziller M.G. , Shevell M.
  • a Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation, University of Illinois at Chicago, Neuropsychiatric Institute, 912 S. Wood Street, Chicago, IL 60612-7330, United States
  • b Departments of Neurology/Neurosurgery, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, QC, Canada, St. Mary's Hospital Centre, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
  • c Departments of Neurology/Neurosurgery, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, QC, Canada, Department of Pediatrics, Montreal Children's Hospital, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, QC, Canada

Abstract

Russian-born, Vienna-trained neurologist and neuropathologist Ilya Mark Scheinker collaborated with Josef Gerstmann and Ernst Sträussler in 1936 to describe the familial prion disorder now known as Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker disease. Because of Nazi persecution following the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany, Scheinker fled from Vienna to Paris, then after the German invasion of France, to New York. With the help of neurologist Tracy Putnam, Scheinker ended up at the University of Cincinnati, although his position was never guaranteed. He more than doubled his prior publications in America, and authored three landmark neuropathology textbooks. Despite his publications, he was denied tenure and had difficulty professionally in the Midwest because of prejudice against his European mannerisms. He moved back to New York for personal reasons in 1952, dying prematurely just 2 years later. Scheinker was twice uprooted, but persevered and eventually found some success as a refugee. Copyright © The Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences Inc. 2016.

Author Keywords

Scheinker neuropathology prion Nazi Europe neuroethics History

Index Keywords

Gerstmann Straussler Scheinker syndrome Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker Disease neuropathology priority journal Review refugee art neurology National Socialism neurologist Europe history United States human Humans Refugees History, 20th Century
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84960875453&doi=10.1017%2fcjn.2015.359&partnerID=40&md5=1cb827ba454894ae3ff67698dbe8db51
DOI: 10.1017/cjn.2015.359
ISSN: 03171671
Original Language: English