- Johann Spurzheim
Johann Gaspar Spurzheim (1776-1832) was a German physician who became one of the chief proponents of
phrenology , a branch of theneurosciences created approximately in 1800 byFranz Joseph Gall (1758-1828).Biography
Spurzheim was born near
Trier ,Germany on December 31, 1776, and studiedmedicine at theUniversity of Vienna . He became acquainted with Gall in 1800 and was soon hired by him as an assistant. Gall intended to have Spurzheim as his successor and added his name as a co-author to books and publications. In 1812, however, Gall and Spurzheim had a falling out, and Spurzheim started a separate career, lecturing and writing extensively on what he termed 'Drs. Gall and Spurzheim's physiognomical System'. He greatly popularised phrenology, and travelled extensively throughout Europe, achieving considerable success inEngland andFrance .He died of
typhoid inBoston , in 1832, cutting short his first and only American tour. After the public autopsy of Spurzheim, hisbrain ,skull , andheart were removed, preserved in jars of alcohol asrelic s, and put on display to the public. Adoring Bostonians staged an elaborate publicfuneral and erected a monument inMount Auburn Cemetery inCambridge, Massachusetts .Spurzheim made many alterations to Gall's phrenological system, including an increase in the number of "organs", as well as its organization into a hierarchical system. Spurzheim also used images and busts to illustrate the craniographic approach of phrenology.
Spurzheim also coined the term
phrenology .External links
* [http://www.whonamedit.com/doctor.cfm/1017.html Johann Gaspar Spurzheim] . WhoNamedIt.
* [http://www.countway.med.harvard.edu/rarebooks/exhibits/talking_heads/index.html Talking Heads] . Phrenology at the Countway Library, 2000.
* [http://amapedia.amazon.com/view/Phrenology+Button/id=667883.htm Phrenology bust] . History of the Phrenology Bust as developed by Spurzheim.
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