Eponyms

After the German neurologist Alois Alzheimer (Marktbreit 1864 Breslau 1915).

Alois Alzheimer was born the second son of a notary in the town of Markbreit south of Würzburg in the Kingdom of Bavaria. His father had big plans for him and when he was ten he sent him to a gymnasium in Aschaffenburg, where an uncle was pastor. In 1883 Alois graduated with good grades in all subjects, a special mention for natural sciences and a disclaimer for student activities that were unacceptable. Even as a student he made his mark. In one of the typical German student duels with the sword, Alois suffered a nasty wound across the left side of his face. That left side is not visible in any of the photos that have survived of him. He was 1.80 meters tall and stocky and, as a good Bavarian, could move unheard of amounts of beer, according to contemporaries. He studied medicine in Berlin, Tübingen and Würzburg and became a doctor in 1888 with a 17-page dissertation on wax glands. In the meantime, one of his professors had instilled in him the love of the microscope.

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