Wer war eigentlich Dieter Janz?

The article presents Dieter Janz as a neurologist who after 1950 fundamentally reformed and modernized the views on epilepsy in Germany. His scientific research focused on the delineation of a clinically based differentiation of epilepsy syndromes, with the comprehensive description of all aspects of juvenile myoclonic epilepsy, the Janz syndrome (impulsive petit mal) as the masterpiece. His 1969 monograph “The Epilepsies”, the last attempt of a single author to cover the entire field of epilepsy, stands out by its profound analysis of many case histories and the patients’ seizure experiences. He was a trainee neurologist under Paul Vogel in Heidelberg, where he became a neurology consultant. In 1973 he was called to a new chair of neurology at the Free University Berlin where he built a department of neurology distinguished by its focus on rehabilitation and psychosomatics. His group also became internationally involved in the development of clinical pharmacology of antiepileptic drugs, video electroencephalographic (EEG) diagnostics and the genetics of epilepsy. His widespread cultural interests involved a longstanding and profound study of the existential and theological aspects of epilepsy reflected in Dostoevski’s protagonists with epilepsy and in Raphael’s painting “The Transfiguration”. In his last years, Janz was primarily committed to the editing of the works and correspondence of Victor von Weizsäcker.