Maximilian Leidesdorf

Maximilian Leidesdorf (June 27, 1818 - October 9, 1889) was an Austrian psychiatrist who was born in Vienna. In 1845 he received his medical doctorate from the University of Vienna. After working in several mental institutions throughout Europe, he returned to Vienna in 1856, where he practiced medicine for the rest of his career. In 1872 he became head of the department of mental illness at the Vienna General Hospital, and in 1875 director of the Landesirrenanstalt (State Lunatic Asylum). One of his famous assistants was Julius Wagner-Jauregg (1857-1940) who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1927.

Leidesdorf is remembered for his numerous writings in the field of psychiatry. With Theodor Meynert (1833-1892) he founded the quarterly psychiatric journal Vierteljahresschrift für Psychiatrie,. Leidesdorf's writings dealt largely with the correlation between physical and mental illnesses.

Written works

 * Beiträge zur Diagnostik und Behandlung der Primären Formen des Irreseins Krefeld, 1855
 * Das Römerbad Tüffer in Steiermark Vienna, 1857
 * Compendium der Psychiatrie für Aerzte und Studirende ib. 1860
 * Pathologie und Therapie der psychischen Krankheiten Erlangen, 1860
 * Erläuterungen zur Irrenhausfrage Niederösterreichs," Vienna, 1868
 * Vierteljahresschrift für Psychiatrie (with T. Meynert)
 * Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon; Neue Deutsche Biographie
 * Psychiatrische Studien aus der Klinik Leidesdorf ib. 1877
 * Das Traumleben, Vienna, 1880