Publication Announcement
on a Recently Accepted Article for the Journal of Neurology:
"Dr. Rudolf Altschul (1901-1963) -- Pioneer in Neurology"
"Dr. Rudolf Altschul (1901-1963) -- Pioneer in Neurology"
By Anzo Nguyen (http://emigreucalgary.blogspot.ca)
This article announcement is part of the regular U of C Émigré Project Updates: (http://emigreucalgary.blogspot.ca/2019/)
Last month, an article
co-authored by Dr. Frank W. Stahnisch and Anzo Nguyen was published online in
the Journal of Neurology, titled
“Rudolf Altschul (1901-1963)– Pioneer in Neurology”. This brief, biographical
article details the Canadian life and career of neuro-anatomist Dr. Rudolf
Altschul, who built a diverse career of many academic interests at the
University of Saskatchewan. Trained at the German-speaking University of
Prague, he was forced to flee his native Czechoslovakia in the aftermath of the
country’s annexation by the Nazi Wehrmacht in 1939. Following a hazardous
journey to Canada via Britain,
including a voyage on the ill-fated ocean liner Athenia, Dr. Altschul managed to re-establish himself as an
acclaimed neuro-anatomist at the University of Saskatchewan. Throughout his wartime
and postwar career, he would become head of the Department of Anatomy, and
conduct research in a wide range of fields, including neuro-anatomy,
cardiology, and atherosclerosis. In particular, his research on atherosclerosis
earned funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in his later years.
This article provides a brief, but detailed account of Dr. Altschul’s storied
biography, focusing on his years in Canada from 1939 onwards. In addition, by
examining the case study of his individual immigration and settlement process,
the article contextualizes his story as simply one of the greater mass
migration of German-speaking biomedical scientists from Central Europe in the
1930s and 1940s. Finally, Dr. Altschul’s career provides insight into methods
that these refugee scientists employed to rebuild their careers within the
professional networks of North America.
