FORSSMAN,WERNER - A PIONEER OF CARDIOLOGY

Werner Forssmann, Andre F. Cournand, and Dickinson W. Richards were aw arded the Nobel Prize in 1956 for seminal work on heart catheterizatio n, Forssmann for his pioneering self-experiment, and Cournand and Rich ards for establishing heart catheterization as a standard diagnostic a nd treatment procedure in cardiology. Forssmann's self-experiment push ed the boundaries of medicine into a new era and opened the door of mo dern cardiology. This historical study depicts Forssmann's life narrat ive and the forces, political and personal as well, that shaped his pe rsonality. His upbringing in Berlin, his career as a physician, the se lf-experiment, and his life as a Nobel Laureate will be reviewed. His preoccupation with euthanasia, and in the scientific community a rathe r unknown aspect of his intellectual productivity in his late life, wi ll also be evaluated. (C) 1997 by Excerpta Medica, Inc.