TANDLER, JULIUS

TANDLER, JULIUS (1869–1936), anatomist and social politician. Born in Iglau, Moravia, Tandler studied medicine in Vienna, receiving his M.D. degree in 1895. He was an assistant at the Anatomical Institute of Prof. Emil Zuckerkandl in Vienna and succeeded him as head of the institute in 1910, remaining there until 1934. He was dean of the medical faculty from 1914 to 1917 and developed ideas toward the reform of medical education. Tandler conducted research in various fields of anatomy, such as the heart, the prostate, and the uterus, and was interested in the close connection between anatomy and clinical work. Among his publications are Topographie des weiblichen Ureters (1901) and Anatomie und Ätiologie der Genitalprolapse beim Weibe (1907), both of which were written together with Joseph Halban; Die Biologischen Grundlagen der sekundaren Geschlechtsmerkmale (1913); and his well-known, four-volume Lehrbuch der systematischen Anatomie (1918–1929).

In 1919 Tandler, as a social democrat, became under-secretary of state in the Ministry of Social Administration of the Republic of Austria and reorganized hospital legislation. From 1920 to 1934, he was a city councilor in Vienna and made significant contributions to modern social medicine by creating a new system of welfare which became known the world over. His system was based on the idea that it is society's duty to help, on the right of those in need to receive welfare, and on social responsibility. All kinds of welfare were included with advisory boards being set up to deal with problems of young couples, pregnant women, mothers, war invalids, babies, and the elderly. He was responsible for the building of new kindergartens as well as the Kinderübernahmsstelle, the largest children's home in Europe.

Having earned an international reputation, he was a participant on the Health Committee of the League of Nations (1929–1933). In 1933 he responded to a call to China, where he helped develop modern social medicine. Frequent antisemitic riots in his Anatomical Institute as well as his advancing age prompted him to continue his work outside Austria. After the Austrian Civil War (1934) he had to retire. He again went to China and then on to Moscow, to reorganize the hospital system. He died in Moscow.

bibliography:

A. Goetzl and R.A. Reynolds, Julius Tandler (1945); K. Sablik, Julius Tandler, Mediziner und Sozialreformer (1983).