What’s in a name? Schönleinstraße

Photo 04.12.12 00 48 09U-Bahnhof (underground train station) Schönleinstraße on the U8 in Kreuzberg, Berlin. The station is named after Johan Lukas Schönlein, German professor of medicine who taught for a while in Berlin. His name has been given to more than just this small station – he is recognized as one of the first people to describe a disease in children which involves the skin, joints and kidneys – now known as Henoch-Schönlein Purpura (HSP). He also first discovered one of the species belonging to a group of fungi known as the Dermatophytes (they love infecting skin, hair and nails), Trichophyton schönleini. Trichophyton species are considered the most common cause of Athlete’s foot (tinea pedis). Also something I found interesting is the species Trichophyton soudanense (Sudan?) – but I couldn’t find anything about the etymology of this organism online (maybe I need to dig a little deeper, all I found was that the organism is common in the Mediterranean and Africa). Perhaps I’m just a little homesick? 😦

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