The Medical University of Vienna mourns the loss of Univ.-Prof. dr Herbert Hönigsmann, former head of the University Clinic for Dermatology. Herbert Hönigsmann died on August 21, 2023 surrounded by his family.
Herbert Hönigsmann was born on March 26, 1943 in Vienna. He studied human medicine at the University of Vienna (1962-1968) and from 1969-73 he was an assistant doctor at the 1st University Dermatological Clinic in Vienna. In 1976 he followed Klaus Wolff as senior physician at the University Dermatological Clinic in Innsbruck, where he established an outpatient clinic for radiotherapy and phototherapy. In 1981 Herbert Hönigsmann returned to the 1st University Department of Dermatology in Vienna, where he took on the position of senior physician in charge of the department. With the move from the old to the new AKH, he was appointed head of the clinical department for special dermatology and environmental dermatoses (1992-2008) and was head of the organizational unit of the university clinic for dermatology from 2004 to 2008. Herbert Hönigsmann retired in October 2008.
During his clinical scientific career, Herbert Hönigsmann was a highly active and highly renowned clinical and translational researcher in the field of cutaneous photobiology. Together with Klaus Wolff, he pioneered UV light therapy for inflammatory dermatoses such as psoriasis vulgaris and cutaneous lymphomas in the 1970s. In particular, the combination with retinoids made the so-called PUVA therapy a widely used and effective remedy against these diseases. Other clinical focal points included the therapy of diseases of the scalp and disorders of hair growth, pigment anomalies and the diagnosis and therapy of light eruptions. Experimentally, Herbert Hönigsmann dealt with the testing of photoactive substances, the action spectrum for light and UV-induced skin diseases, repair mechanisms after UV damage to the skin and photocarcinogenesis. His expertise in sun protection and the evaluation of light and UV filter substances was well respected. His work in the field of photobiology made him an international expert who was often featured in the media.
Herbert Hönigsmann comes from the generation of academic doctors who helped Austrian dermatology to become world famous. In particular, the years in Innsbruck and the early 1980s in Vienna are considered the “golden age” of our subject. The enthusiasm for clinical and experimental dermatology combined with the in-depth clinical knowledge of personalities such as Herbert Hönigsmann have significantly shaped generations of medical students and doctors and attracted countless talents to dermatology. Herbert Hönigsmann was not only an outstanding “physician scientist” par excellence, but also a teacher and mentor for many subsequent dermatologists, both in the university and in private practice. His dedication to our subject is also shown by the fact that Herbert Hönigsmann was an active congress participant to the end, belonged to a large number of professional societies and carried out reviewer and editor activities for international journals.
Austrian and international dermatology is forever indebted to Herbert Hönigsmann for his decades of significant contributions!
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Weninger
University Clinic for Dermatology
2023-08-22 23:39:29
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