Heinrich Auspitz

Heinrich Auspitz (born 1835 in Nikolsburg, Moravia, died 1886 in Vienna) was an Austrian dermatologist. Trained at the University of Vienna, he specialised in dermatology and syphilis. He was part of the famous Vienna School of Dermatology, and studied and worked with other eminent dermatologists of the time, Ernst Wilhelm Ritter von Brücke (1819-1892), Carl Freiherr von Rokitansky (1804-1878), Josef Skoda (1805-1881), Johann Ritter von Oppolzer (1808-1871), and Ferdinand Ritter von Hebra (1816-1880). From 1863 to 1886 he worked as a professor of dermatology at the University of Vienna. He was also the director of the general policlinic from 1872 and became the chief of a clinical station upon the death of Hermann Edler von Zeissl (1817-1884).

A pioneer in tissue pathology, he described the pinpoint bleeding on removal of a psoriasis scale that bears his name: Auspitz's sign.