Johannes Orth

Johannes Orth (January 14 1847 - January 13 1923) was a German pathologist who was a native of Wallmerod. He studied medicine at the University of Bonn, earning his doctorate in 1872. Afterwards he became an assistant to Rudolf Virchow (1821-1902) in Berlin. In 1878 he became a professor at the University of Goettingen, and in 1902 returned to Berlin as director of the pathology clinic following the death of Virchow.

Orth specialized in the pathological study of infectious diseases, particularly tuberculosis and endocarditis. In 1875 he documented an account involving an autopsy of a jaundiced infant with intense yellow staining of the basal ganglia, hippocampus, the third ventricle, as well as parts of the cerebellum. However, it wouldn't be until the early 20th century that this condition would be further comprehended. In 1903, pathologist Christian Georg Schmorl (1861-1932) presented the results of 120 autopsies of jaundiced infants, with six of these cases having the staining phenomena described by Orth. Schmorl coined the term kernicterus (jaundice of the basal ganglia) for this yellow staining phenomena.