History
The exact origin of syphilis is unknown. Of two primary hypotheses, one proposes syphilis was carried to Europe by the returning crewmen from Christopher Columbus's voyage to the Americas, the other proposes syphilis existed in Europe previously, but went unrecognized. These are referred to as the "Columbian" and "pre-Columbian" hypotheses, respectively. The Columbian hypothesis is best supported by the available evidence. The first written records of an outbreak of syphilis in Europe occurred in 1494/1495 in Naples, Italy, during a French invasion. Due to its being spread by returning French troops, it was initially known as the "French disease." In 1530, the name "syphilis" was first used by the Italian physician and poet Girolamo Fracastoro as the title of his Latin poem in dactylic hexameter describing the ravages of the disease in Italy. It was also known historically as the "Great Pox".
The causative organism, Treponema pallidum, was first identified by Fritz Schaudinn and Erich Hoffmann in 1905. The first effective treatment (Salvarsan) was developed in 1910 by Paul Ehrlich, which was followed by trials of penicillin and confirmation of its effectiveness in 1943. Before the advent of effective treatment, mercury and isolation were commonly used, with treatments often worse than the disease. Many famous historical figures, including Franz Schubert, Arthur Schopenhauer and Édouard Manet are believed to have had the disease.
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“English history is all about men liking their fathers, and American history is all about men hating their fathers and trying to burn down everything they ever did.”
—Malcolm Bradbury (b. 1932)
“Yet poetry, though the last and finest result, is a natural fruit. As naturally as the oak bears an acorn, and the vine a gourd, man bears a poem, either spoken or done. It is the chief and most memorable success, for history is but a prose narrative of poetic deeds.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“I believe that history might be, and ought to be, taught in a new fashion so as to make the meaning of it as a process of evolution intelligible to the young.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)