Pathology in four epochs: Max Borst (1869-1946), Chairman of Pathology at Munich University from 1910-46

Abstract

Max Borst was the pre-eminent tumour pathologist among Rudolf Virchow's (1821-1902) heirs. In his magnum opus of 1902 Borst established the first complete system of tumours based upon histogenetic and biological criteria. Borst was the Chairman of Pathology at Munich University from 1910-46, over a unique period in German history. In the 1930s he was the leading figure in German cancer research. Borst was no Nazi but neither did he join the Resistance. He came to an arrangement with the National Socialist regime, living with it in a relationship of mutual utilitarianism. He never belonged to a political party and he cultivated an image of an apolitical professor except for his engagement against the Räterepublik (Bavarian Soviet Republic) in 1918/19. During World War I, Borst was the first German pathologist to establish systematic ‘war pathology’ and he served in the Army again in World War II as a septuagenarian. Art played an important part in his life. As a gifted musician he performed publicly and he published songs. Borst was an Idealist and Neo-Vitalist who always felt more obliged to authenticity and truthfulness than to truth. He died in a car crash in the Bavarian uplands in October 1946.