Albert Eckstein (1891–1950): modernizer of Turkey's paediatrics in exile

摘要

This paper provides a historical perspective on Ordinarius Professor Albert Eckstein. He was the architect of modern paediatrics in Turkey. The year 2005 was the 55th anniversary of Professor Albert Eckstein's death and the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Paediatric Clinics at Ankara University, where he served for five years as the founding director while in forced exile from Nazi Germany. This is a tale of an individual caught at the crossroads and in the crossfire of history. His native land was in the throes of discarding him. His life was saved because (to him) an alien country was discarding a societal culture inherited from the Ottomans. Turkey recognized the need to modernize its society. The Nazis came to power. Albert Eckstein, a noted German paediatrician, was Jewish.