Ferdinand von Hebra

Born Sept. 7, 1816, in Brünn (Brno); died Aug. 5, 1880, in Vienna. Austrian scientist and physician, one of the founders of the Vienna school of dermatology.

In 1869, Hebra became professor ordinarius of dermatology at the University of Vienna. He was the first to apply scientific classifications to skin diseases, dividing them into 12 groups according to pathologicoanatomic substratum. He described a number of skin diseases which have since been named for him, including Hebra’s prurigo, Hebra’s erythema multiforme exudativum, and Hebra’s eczema marginatum. He developed several new methods of treatment for skin diseases. He was active in opposing the advocates of humoral pathology; against their proposition that skin diseases originated because of a special dyscrasia (“spoilage of the juices”) he suggested the role of external factors, such as chemical substances and animal parasites.