Jean Lobstein


Jean Georges Chrétien Frédéric Martin Lobstein was a German-born, French pathologist and surgeon who was a native of Giessen. He was the nephew of noted surgeon Johann Friedrich Lobstein.
In 1803 he earned his doctorate at the University of Strasbourg, subsequently working as an anatomical prosector as well as an assistant to the médecin-accoucheur en chef at the Civil Hospital. In 1805 he became a professor at École d'obstétrique du Rhin inférieur, where he ultimately served for thirty years. In 1819 he attained a professorship in pathological anatomy.
Jean Lobstein is remembered for contributions made in the field of pathological anatomy. He described a disorder known today as osteogenesis imperfecta type I, which is sometimes called "Lobstein's disease". This disease is an hereditary, generalized connective tissue disorder characterized by bone fragility and a blue-gray sclerae of the eyes. In 1813 he founded an impressive pathological museum in Strasbourg, a collection that remained intact until the years following the Franco-Prussian War, when its artifacts were either dispersed or lost.
Lobstein's best written effort was an unfinished four-volume work titled "Traité d’anatomie pathologique", being based on his personal experiences as a pathologist. In its second volume he coined the word "arteriosclerosis" in a section on arterial disease. In addition to his work in medicine, he was an avid archaeologist, historian and numismatist.

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