Robert Meyer

Biography

• Born 11 January 1864, Hannover, Lower Saxony
• 1883 – 1888 Medical studies at Leipzig, then the University of Heidelberg, and finally the University of Strasbourg
• 1888 – 1894 Family medicine physician in Dedeleben, Sachsen
• 1894 – Gynaecological practice in Berlin
• 1908 – Professor of Gynaecology and Pathology, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin
• 1912 – Director of the Institute of Pathology at the University Gynecologial Clinic at Artilleriestrasse
• 1932 – Honorary Professor at the medical institute of Berlin
• 1934 – Professor title removed controversially by the Nazi regime.
• 1939 – Emigrated to America escaping the oppression of Nazi rule.
• 1939 – Associate Professor of Pathology at the University of Minnesota
• 1946 – Before he died he wrote the Autobiography of Dr. Robert Meyer: A Short Abstract of a Long Life serialized in the Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences.
• Died 12 December 1947 of gastric cancer

Medical Eponyms

Weigert-Meyer rule (1907) When complete ureter duplication is present the ureter which emanates from the superior aspect of the kidney, inserts more inferomedially into the bladder. This is referred to as the ectopic orifice. The other ureter, emanating from the inferior aspect of the kidney, inserts into the bladder more laterally and chephaloid (orthoptic). This ureter is more in keeping with normal ureteric insertion.

Key Medical Attributions

• During his time worked with numerous greats in the world of medicine and science, including:
  • Adolf Kussmaul (Kussmaul Breathing)
  • August Von Wassermann (Wassermann test for Syphilis, 1906)
  • Wilhelm His Jr (discovered bundle of His)
  • Robert Bunsen (Inventor of the bunsen burner)

Major Publications

• Meyer R. Zur Anatomie und Entwicklungsgeschichte der Ureterverdoppelung. Virchows Archiv für pathologische Anatomie und Physiologie und für klinische Medizin. 1907;187: 408-434. [Weigert-Meyer rule]
• Meyer R. Normal and abnormal development of the ureter in the human embryo—a mechanistic consideration. The Anatomical Record. 1946;96(4):355-371
• Meyer R. 1. Die pathologische Anatomie der Geb ä rmutter 2. Mola hydatiformis, Blasenmole und horionepithelioma malignum uteri (1. Pathologic anatomy of uterus, 2. Hydatidiform mole and malignant chorionepithelioma). In: Henke F, Lubarsch O, eds. Handbuch der speziellen pathologischen Anatomie und Histologie. Vol. 7. Berlin: Springer, 930: 1 – 625, 626 – 801.

References

• Autobiography of Dr. Robert Meyer, 1864-1947: A Short Abstract of a Long Life. Published as a 3 part series in the Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences 1947;II(4):419–450, 1948;III(1): 125-160 1948;III(2): 315-354
• Dallenbach-Hellweg G, Schmidt D. History of gynecological pathology. X. Dr. Robert Meyer. Int J Gynecol Pathol. 2001 Jul;20(3):289-308. [PMID 11444206]