Karel Frederik Wenckebach

Vocation

Notable

Dutch anatomist, physiologist and cardiologist. He was a pioneer on the field of cardiac arrhythmia's. He lectured at the Universities of Groningen (1901), Strasbourg (1911–14) and Vienna (1914–29). He is best known for the description of the "second degree AV block" (Mobitz Type I), later named the Wenckebach phenomenon. But he also wrote about art and the male climacteric (Ueber den Mann von fünfzig Jahren). He studied medicine in Utrecht. Here he met Willem Einthoven (1860-1927), the inventor of the ECG. Eindhoven's string galvanometer (1901) was the first electrical device that recorded the heart rate, but it took some 20 years before his device left the physiological laboratories. He died 11 November 1940 in Wien. Personal He was the son of Eduard Wenckebach (24 May 1813, Amsterdam - 18 April 1874, Wijk Bij Duurstede) and Maria Geertruida Cornelissen (25 January 1829, Vlissingen - 4 December 1909, Utrecht). They married 3 November 1854 in Nijmegen and got four children: Ludwig Johann Wenckebach (1854/5 - 27 December 1855). Johanna Hendrika Wenckebach (20 November 1856 - 9 July 1872). Ludwig Willem Reijmert Wenckebach (12 January 1860, Den Haag - 25 June 1937, Santpoort, Velsen) became a painter. Henri Johan Eduard Wenckebach (27 June 1861, Den Haag - 21 February 1924) became a noted mining engineer and CEO. And Karel Frederik Wenckebach (1864-1940) became a noted physician. On 2 June 1892 he married Catharina Hennij (3 December 1867 8 PM, Eindhoven) in Utrecht. They got at least four children: Marie Emilie Wenckebach (20 June 1893, Heerlen - ?) Ludwig Oswald Wenckebach (16 June 1895, Heerlen - 3 November 1962, Noordwijkerhout,) became a noted sculptor, painter, and medallist. On 20 May 1919 he married Louisa Petronella Lau (8 July 1893, Schiedam - ?) in Heerlen. Frederik Wenckebach (25 July 1897, Utrecht - ?) Catharina Wenckebach (22 February 1899,Utrecht- ?) married H. Brossche. Link to Wikipedia