Max Josef von Pettenkofer

German hygienist and chemist. Born in Lichtenheim, Bavaria. Graduated from the University of Munich in 1843. He then studied medical chemistry at the University of Würzburg and studied under Liebig at the University of Giessen. During this period, he reported on bile acids, hippuric acid in human urine, creatine, and creatinine as part of his experimental research on physiological chemistry. In 1847, he became an associate professor of medical chemistry at the University of Munich, and in 1852, he was appointed full professor. He began to realize that chemical knowledge was necessary to determine hygiene problems, and gradually conducted experimental research on various hygiene problems, carbon dioxide in the air and water, ventilation in homes, and the physical relationship between clothing. He also attempted to investigate and study underground ventilation in cities and the water and sewer systems in Munich. He established experimental methods backed by his knowledge of chemistry and physiology, and made hygiene an experimental science. In 1865, he was appointed the first professor of hygiene at the University of Munich, setting a precedent in this field for other universities. On the other hand, in his research into the spread of cholera, which he began in 1855, he sought the source of cholera in groundwater, and opposed Koch's theory that the cholera bacterium was a pathogen, drinking the bacterium to prove his theory. In accordance with his own beliefs, he committed suicide by shooting himself with a pistol at the age of 83. Ogata Masanori, the founder of Japanese hygiene, and Mori Ogai, a military doctor and writer, studied under him.

[Otori Ranzaburo]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

ドイツの衛生学者、化学者。バイエルン地方リヒテンハイム生まれ。1843年ミュンヘン大学を卒業。その後ウュルツブルク大学で医化学を研究、ギーセン大学ではリービヒに師事。この時期に生理化学に関する実験研究のなかから、胆汁酸、ヒトの尿中の馬尿酸、クレアチン、クレアチニンに関する報告を行った。1847年ミュンヘン大学医化学員外教授になり、1852年に同正教授に任ぜられた。衛生上の問題の決定に化学的知識が必要であることを認識し始め、しだいに衛生方面の諸問題、大気と水中の炭酸ガス、住居内の換気、衣服の理学的関係などに関して実験研究を行い、さらに都市の地下の換気、ミュンヘン市の上下水道の調査研究を試みるなど、化学・生理学の知識に裏づけられた実験方法を確立し、衛生学を実験科学にしていった。1865年ミュンヘン大学の初代衛生学教授に任ぜられ、この分野で他の大学に先鞭(せんべん)をつけた。他方、1855年から始めたコレラの伝染の研究では、コレラの病原を地下水に求め、コッホのコレラ菌説に反対、自説を証明するためにコレラ菌を飲んだ。自己の信条に従って83歳でピストル自殺した。日本の衛生学の創設者緒方正規(おがたまさのり)や軍医で作家の森鴎外(おうがい)は彼の下に留学、師事した。

［大鳥蘭三郎］

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