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Julius Bernard Citron
Born(1878-10-26)October 26, 1878
Berlin, Prussia
DiedJanuary 18, 1952(1952-01-18) (aged 73)
Cairo, Egypt
Resting placeBassatine Jewish Cemetery
Known forWassermann Test
SpouseLilli Alice Schayer (1893 - 1932) (m. 1919; 3 children)
ChildrenRalph, Herbert and Evelyn Citron
Scientific career
FieldsBacteriology, Immunology, Serology and Internal Medicine
Signature

Julius Bernhard Citron (26 October 1878 – 18 January 1952) was a German Jewish physician and researcher specializing in internal medicine, bacteriology, immunology, and serology. He made notable contributions to the development of diagnostic methods for infectious diseases, particularly through improvements to the Wassermann test for syphilis and early work on tuberculosis diagnostics. His career spanned Germany, British Mandatory Palestine, and Egypt.[1][2][3]

Early life and education

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Citron was born in Berlin, Germany, to Judah David Leib Citron and Lina Aronsohn. He studied medicine at universities in Munich, Freiburg, and Berlin, receiving his degree from the University of Freiburg in 1902.[4][5]

Julius Citron 1898
Julius Citon's Dissertation

Career

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In 1904, Citron joined the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin, working in the department led by August von Wassermann. There, he contributed to the refinement of the Wassermann test for syphilis, increasing its diagnostic reliability by using a large, stratified human serum sample and applying improved controls.[6]

Improvements to the Wassermann test

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The Wassermann test was one of the first blood tests for syphilis. Citron's version of the test achieved greater specificity and sensitivity, helping to standardize its clinical application across Europe.[7] In 1921, the League of Nations Health Organization selected Citron’s method as the most technically reliable among competing versions.[8][9]

Development of tuberculosis diagnostics

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In 1906, Wassermann and Carl Bruck developed a serodiagnostic test for tuberculosis using bacterial extracts.[10] Concurrently and independently, Citron developed a serodiagnostic test for tuberculosis using the entire bacterium.[11] With a reliably high rate of true positives, these would be the world’s earliest successful blood tests.[12][13]

Research on infectious diseases

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Beyond syphilis and tuberculosis, Citron conducted research on gonorrhea, typhus, meningitis, cholera, tetanus, and swine influenza.[12] His work helped improve understanding of immune responses and diagnostic methods for these conditions.[14][15]

Citron with an historic group of medical researchers at the Charite in 1909. Von Bergmann (No. 7) would follow Kraus as Clinic Director in 1927. In 1933, Von Bergmann would enforce Nazi policy to remove the Jewish staff.

Use of insulin in diabetes

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Shortly after the discovery of insulin in the early 1920s, Citron conducted one of the first clinical trials of its use in treating diabetes in Germany, during a period when the hormone was still difficult to access and experimental.[16][17]

Oral-systemic disease relationships

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Citron explored the relationship between oral health and systemic illnesses, proposing that dental infections could reflect or affect endocrine and metabolic diseases—a perspective that was uncommon at the time.[18][19]

Academic and clinical leadership

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Citron was appointed Chief of the Bacteriological-Serological Laboratory at the Charité Hospital in Berlin and later became Physician-in-Chief of the 2nd Medical Clinic. He was also a professor of internal medicine at the University of Berlin, where he trained numerous physicians and researchers.[20]

Following the rise of the Nazi regime in 1933, Citron emigrated due to antisemitic persecution. He initially relocated to British Mandatory Palestine, practicing medicine in Tel Aviv.[21]

In 1945, he moved to Cairo, Egypt, where he was appointed Physician-in-Chief at the L’Hôpital Israélite du Caire (Jewish Hospital of Cairo). He served in this capacity until his death in 1952.[22]

Major published works

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  • Wassermann, A. von, and Julius Citron. "The local immunity of tissues." German med. Wochenschrift 15 (1905).
  • Wassermann, A., and Citron, J., ‘Ueber die Bildungsstatten der Typhusimmunkorper. Ein Beitrag zur Frage der localen Im¬ munitat der Gewebe , Ztschr.f. Hyg. u. Infektionskrankh., 1905
  • Citron, Julius. "Die Immunisirung gegen Schweineseuche mit Hülfe von Bakterienextracten." Zeitschrift für Hygiene und Infektionskrankheiten 52.1 (1906): 238-262.
  • Citron, Julius. "Die Immunisierung gegen die Bakterien der Hogcholera (Schweinepest) mit Hilfe von Bakterienextrakten." Zeitschrift für Hygiene und Infektionskrankheiten 53.1 (1906): 515-553.
  • Citron, Julius, “Ueber naturliche und kiinstliche Agressine," Zentralbl. Bakter., 41 (1906), 230
  • Citron, Julius. "Ueber Komplementbindungsversuche bei infektiösen und postinfektiösen Erkrankungen,(Tabes dorsalis etc.) sowie bei Nährstoffen1." DMW-Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift 33.29 (1907): 1165-1171.
  • Citron, Julius Bernhard. On tuberculosis antibodies and the nature of the tuberculin reaction. (1907).
  • Citron, J. Erwiderung auf die Bemerkungen E. Weils. Deutsche medizinische Wochenschrift 33 (43) 1907: 90–91.
  • Citron, J.  Die Serodiagnostik der Syphilis. Berliner klinische Wochenschrift 44 (43) 1907: 1370–73
  • Citron, Julius Bernhard. Klinische Bakteriologie und Protozoenkunde. Klinkhardt, 1908.
  • Citron, Julius, and Fritz Munk. "Das Wesen der Wassermannschen Reaktion." DMW-Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift 36.34 (1910): 1560-1561.
  • Aronsohn, Eduard, and Julius Citron. Experimentelle Untersuchungen über die Bedeutung der Wärmestichhyperthermie für die Antikörperbildung. Hirschwald, 1910.
  • Citron, Julius. Die methoden der immunodiagnostik und immunotherapie und ihre praktische verwertung. G. Thieme, 1910.
  • Citron, Julius Bernhard. Clinical bacteriology and protozoa. Klinkhardt, 1912
  • Citron, Julius. Die methoden der immunodiagnostik und immunotherapie und ihre praktische verwertung. G. Thieme, 1912.
  • Citron, Julius, and Erich Leschke. "Ueber den einfluss der ausschaltung des zwischenhirns auf das infectiöse und nichtinfectiöse fieber." Zeitschrift für experimentelle Pathologie und Therapie 14.3 (1913): 379-390.
  • Citron, Julius Bernhard. Immunity, Methods of Diagnosis and Therapy and Their Practical Application. P. Blakiston's son & Company, 1914.
  • Citron, Julius. "Das klinische Bild der spanischen Grippe." Vortrag Berliner medizinische Gesellschaft 17 (1918).
  • Citron, Julius Bernhard. "Die Syphilis" (in the edition of the Specialist Pathol Ther. KRAUS / BRUGSCH, vol. 2,1), Berlin 1919
  • Citron, Julius. "Die erfolgreiche Behandlung eines Falles von Gonokokkensepsis mit Meningokokkenserum1." DMW-Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift 47.31 (1921): 891-891.
  • Citron, J. "Experimented Beitrage zur Insulinwirkung." Med. Klin 20 (1924): 1362-1365.[i]
  • Citron, Julius Bernhard.  “Paradentoses as a symptom of endocrine and metabolic disorders,” Z. klin. Med, 1928
  • Citron, Julius Bernhard.  “Significance of oral diseases for internal medicine " (Med. Welt 4: 466-71, 1930)

Personal life

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Citron married Lilli Alice Schayer in 1919. They had three children: Ralph, Herbert, and Evelyn. He died in Cairo in 1952 and was buried in the Bassatine Jewish Cemetery.[23][24]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ University Archive Humboldt University, Berlin - Personnel File from holdings of Charite Directorate for Julius Bernard Citron files ChVD.01, 391; UK C 028; Med.Fak, 1355, accessed Dec. 3, 2019
  2. ^ van den Bell, Henk (2011). "The Collective Construction of a Scientific Fact: A Re-examination of the Early Period of the Wassermann Reaction (1906 - 1912)". Social Epistemology. 25 (4): 311–339. doi:10.1080/02691728.2011.604446.
  3. ^ Eisner, Henry L. (10 December 1910). "The New Treatment of Syphilis (Erlich – Hata)". Journal of American Medical Association: 2053.
  4. ^ Mendelsohn, John Andrew (June 1996). Cultures of Bacteriology: Formation and Transformation of a Science in France and Germany, 1870 - 1914. UMI Microform 9701218 Dissertation Presented to Faculty of Princeton University in Candidacy for Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. pp. Introduction pages. 1 & 5.
  5. ^ Gradmann, Christoph (2009). Laboratory Disease Robert Koch's Medical Bacteriology. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 2, 3, and 120 - 121.
  6. ^ Fleck, Ludwik (1935) [1981]. Genesis and Development of a Scientific Fact. Chicago: University of Chicago. pp. Chapters 3 & 4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  7. ^ Bialynicki-Birula, Rafal (2008). "The 100th Anniversary of Wassermann-Neisser-Bruck Reaction". Clinics in Dermatology. 26 (1): 79–88. doi:10.1016/j.clindermatol.2007.09.020. PMID 18280907.
  8. ^ Mazumder, Paulin M. H. (2003). "In the Silence of the Laboratory: The League of Nations Standardizes Syphilis Tests". Social History of Medicine. 16 (3): 437–459. doi:10.1093/shm/16.3.437.
  9. ^ Wassermann, A.; Neisser, A.; Bruck, C. (1906). "Eine serodiagnostische Reaktion bei Syphilis". Deutsche medizinische Wochenschrift (in German). 32 (19): 745–746. doi:10.1055/s-0028-1142018.
  10. ^ Wassermann, A; Bruck, C. (1906). "Experimentelle Studien Uber die Wirkung von Tuberkelbacillen Praparaten". Deut. Med. Wochenschr. 32: 449–454. doi:10.1055/s-0028-1141925.
  11. ^ Citron, Julius (1906). "Ueber naturliche und kiinstliche Agressine". Zentralbl. Bakter. 41: 230.
  12. ^ a b Bulloch, William (1938). The History of Bacteriology. Oxford University Press. p. 270.
  13. ^ Citron, Julius (28 October 1907). "Die serodiagnostik der syphilis". Berlin. Klin. Woch: 1370–1373.
  14. ^ Wildmann, Daniel (2009). Der Veränderbare Körper : Jüdische Turner Männlichkeit Und Das Wiedergewinnen Von Geschichte in Deutschland Um 1900 (in German). Mohr Siebeck. p. 53.
  15. ^ Marks, Harry M. (2000). "Managing Chance". The Progress of Experiment: Science and Therapeutic Reform in the United States, 1900-1990. Cambridge University Press.
  16. ^ Bliss, Michael (2007) [1982]. The Discovery of Insulin. University of Chicago Press. pp. 168–169.
  17. ^ Citron, Julius (1924). "Experiments on insulin". Med. Klinik. 20.
  18. ^ Citron, Julius (1928). "Paradentoses as a symptom of endocrine and metabolic disorders". Z. Klin. Med.
  19. ^ Citron, Julius (1931). "The paradentosis problem in its relationship to general diseases". SCHW. Monat. F. Zahn. 41.
  20. ^ Silverstein, Arthur M. (1994). "The Heuristic Value of Experimental Systems: The Case of Immune Hemolysis". Journal of History of Biology. 27 (3): 437–447. doi:10.1007/BF01058993.
  21. ^ Wildt, Michael H. (2009). An Uncompromising Generation: Nazi Leadership of the Reich Security Main Office. University of Wisconsin Press. pp. 50 & 84.
  22. ^ Service, Robert (2009). Trotsky A Biography. Harvard University Press. p. 381.
  23. ^ Fleck, Ludwick (1979). Genesis and development of a scientific fact. University of Chicago Press. pp. Chap 3 & 4.
  24. ^ Timm, Annette F. (2010). The Politics of Fertility in Twentieth-Century Berlin. Cambridge University Press. pp. Chap 1 Venereal disease and the crisis of sexuality in the Weimar Republic.
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