Arthur Schüller: Founder of Neuroradiology

John Keith Henderson, Michael A Henderson

Description

Professor Arthur Schüller (1874-1957) was a distinguished pioneer in the field of neuroradiology. His research rapidly made him the pre-eminent authority on the radiology of the skull and brain in the German-speaking world, particularly after the publication of his two books, including a monograph on diseases of the head, which became the standard textbook throughout the "classic era" of neuroradiology.
He was a university professor at the age of 35, author of many scientific articles in medical journals, and is credited with the first description of three diseases and three operations.
Schüller was also a refugee - fleeing Austria with his wife in 1938 and settling in Melbourne in 1939. The analysis of his career is woven into the personal history of his family. Tragically, his later years were darkened by the news from Europe that his two sons had perished in a concentration camp.

Sujets

• Lettres et linguistique
• Jews

Informations

• Publié par: Hybrid Publishers
• Date de parution: 01 février 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781925736618
• Langue: English

Extrait

Arthur Schüller: Founder of Neuroradiology
A Life on Two Continents

Published by Hybrid Publishers
Melbourne Victoria Australia
© Michael Henderson 2021
This publication is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from the publisher. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction should be addressed to the Publisher, Hybrid Publishers, PO Box 52, Ormond, Victoria, Australia 3204.
www.hybridpublishers.com.au
First published 2021

ISBN: 9781925736601 (p) 9781925736618 (e)
Cover design: Gittus Graphics
All the photos included in this book come from the Schüller Archive, except for those on pages 18 and 19, taken by Andrew Schuller; page 89 courtesy of Australian National Archives; page 118 courtesy of the Archives and Heritage Centre, St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne; and page 164, provided by Patricia Austen (Schüller Archive).
Contents
Foreword
Introduction
Timeline
Family Trees
One: Origins – Fin de Siècle
Two: The Vienna Medical School – the Making of a Polymath
Three: Image and Imagination: Neuroradiology
Four: Without a Homeland – Heimatlos
Five: To Oxford and on to Melbourne
Six: Hospital
Seven: 1945
Eight: In Illo Tempore
Nine: Winding Down
Ten: A Coda for Grete
Eleven: Obituary
Twelve: Postscript: The Vienna Medical School
Appendix 1: Bibliography of Schüller's Papers
Appendix 2:
Sources
Bibliography
Scholarly Articles
Obituaries
Australian newspaper articles
Appendix 3: Vermoegens Verzeichnis
About the Author: John Keith Henderson
Endnotes
Keith Henderson never got around to writing a dedication for his work.
There is absolutely no doubt that the first person he would wish to dedicate this work to was his beloved wife of nearly sixty-five years, Marguerita (known to all as Pixie) Leo Doyle.
Cor ad Cor Loquitor Heart speaks unto heart. – JH Newman
This book is also dedicated to the memory of my father's friend, mentor and colleague, Arthur Schüller, his wife and family.
Finally he would also want to dedicate this book to the memory of the people who cared for the Schüllers during their time in Australia. Their humanity and decency stands in stark contrast to what the Schüllers experienced in their native land.
John Keith Henderson
Foreword
As best as can be determined, my father, Keith Henderson, started his research on the life of Arthur Schüller in the late 1980s shortly after he formally retired as head of the Department of Neurosurgery at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne; however, he had been clearly thinking about it and accumulating material for years prior to this. His work was methodical and slow. It was frequently interrupted, particularly by the ill-health of his wife Pixie and occasionally by other family matters.
He was always a great reader, particularly of history, but sensibly he took the wise move of reading how to write biography and history at an early stage in the writing of this manuscript. This was fairly typical behaviour for my father who loved both reading and books but, more importantly, accumulating knowledge and understanding of his world. The end result was a large amount of well-organised information.
When Arthur Schüller walked out unannounced from the Radiology Department at St Vincent’s Hospital in 1956 for the last time, he left behind very little of his own notes but most of his books. Frank Morgan arranged for these items to be stored in the Neurosurgery Department and years later, simply by my father’s fiat, they became the Schüller Archive. It contains many books from the early years of neuroradiology, including of course Schüller’s own works and many of his published papers, but little else.
My father added materially to this collection, which now includes details of interviews with people who knew Schüller and any records, documents etc. he was able to procure in the course of his investigations. These are detailed in the Appendix. Many of these investigations came to naught, given the passage of time and the destruction of Austrian infrastructure during the war. Schüller kept virtually no correspondence, and what little we have from him is almost entirely of a professional nature. As became clear during editing of this work, many of the incidents in Schüller’s life described here were recounted to my father by Schüller himself.
It appears that the bulk of what my father wrote was completed at least five years prior to his death in 2017. His mind was still active, but due to increasing frailty it was a major effort to do anything more than tinker around the edges of his manuscript. My father and I had many discussions about this book, as well as life in Oxford in the 1950s, and his time at St Vincent’s Hospital, all of which were valuable in my role as editor.

In editing this work I have tried to remain true to his original conception. There has been some minor editing in moving sections, particularly in the first three chapters, to suit the flow of the narrative, and one chapter which was small has been deleted, but the material was incorporated into chapters 3 and 4. Minor grammatical errors, which were fortunately infrequent, have been rectified and a few details clarified, particularly dates, where they were missing or ambiguous.
A small amount of material has been added, for the most part based on material my father had collected and preserved in the Schüller Archive. These additions have been incorporated to either improve the flow of the narrative, clarify points raised in the narrative or seemed to the editor to be sufficiently important to be included.
As detailed below, a number of my father’s colleagues and family reviewed the penultimate manuscript. Based on their comments, further information where it was available or clarification of specific issues was undertaken. A small amount of background material relating to general medical, political or social matters has been added to explain or clarify critical events during Schüller’s life. A small amount of additional information was gathered from my father’s circle and from other sources. Further information has come to light in recent years, including a record of Arthur and Grete’s baptism and renunciation of the Jewish religion; details of Grete’s will have also been included.
One chapter, “In Illo Tempore”, has not been materially altered. It describes the fate of Grete’s mother and Arthur and Grete’s two sons, daughter-in-law and granddaughter at the hands of the Nazis. It is a devastating piece of writing. It is a tribute to my father and in no way could I improve it. At times his prose could be a little flowery but the writing in this chapter is lucid, quiet, and simple; the stark nature of its presentation contrasts with the obscenity of the fate of these people. Because he told me many times, I know the information on which he based this chapter had a major impact on his appreciation and understanding of Arthur Schüller.
By circumstance, during the early years of research for this volume, my father had the great fortune to make contact with Erwin Schindler, who was at that time Professor of Neuroradiology in the University of Vienna, and who was also deeply interested in the life of Arthur Schüller. They corresponded and exchanged information, ideas and encouragement.
In 2000, Erwin and his wife, Karen, were on an overseas holiday and specifically came to Melbourne to meet with Keith, who was unable to travel, having taken on the care of his wife Pixie. My father was very grateful for the assistance of Erwin and it was always his view that this volume would be a joint effort. There is no doubt, as my father would testify, that Erwin’s contribution was significant. Schindler died unexpectedly in 2003 and never saw the fruits of their work.

A number of other people contributed in significant ways to this book. There will be some of whom I remain unaware and I express my apologies to them. The foremost to acknowledge is one of my father’s dearest friends, Tom King FRCS, FRACS. Tom provided many articles and assisted materially in chasing down information on Schüller’s time in Oxford. More important was his companionship and wise counsel. Similar comments can be made for many of Keith’s other dear friends, including Bob Southby FRACS, Peter McNeil FRACS and Donald Simpson FRACS.
Finally, I must acknowledge Andrew Schuller, who by the most extraordinary of circumstances came to this project. An old friend from Keith’s Oxford days, John Potter FRCS who was helping Keith with Schuller’s Oxford days, asked his neighbour named Schuller if he knew anything about his namesake. The neighbour, who was Andrew’s father, didn’t know anything about Arthur but by this time his son Andrew, who was researching the family, learned of Keith’s interest from contacts in Brno, and he initiated contact. Simultaneously a friend of the Schindlers in Melbourne who was aware of Andrew’s interest brought them together. Andrew, a publisher, is Arthur Schüller’s great-nephew. I thank them all for their friendship and assistance to my father.
Although I take responsibility for any omissions or other mistakes, I wish to acknowledge many of the above who read the manuscript and provided me with many comments, suggestions and corrections. I wo