Esther Somerfeld-Ziskind

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Esther Somerfeld-Ziskind
Born(1901-07-02)July 2, 1901
Chicago, Illinois
DiedNovember 11, 2002(2002-11-11) (aged 101)
Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California
CitizenshipAmerican
Alma mater
AwardsRecipient Research Award California Medical Association
Honorary Award Southern California Psychiatric Society
Scientific career
Fields

Esther Somerfeld-Ziskind (July 2, 1901 – November 11, 2002) was an American

neurologist and psychiatrist. She conducted pioneering research into the use of insulin, lithium, and electroconvulsive therapy in the treatment of psychiatric disorders.[1][2] She was the daughter of Czech and Romanian immigrants. She received her medical degree in Chicago, Illinois, and her Masters in Los Angeles, California. After marrying Eugene Ziskind, they opened their own practice. Somerfeld-Ziskind was later chair of the psychiatry department at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
.

Early life and education

Esther Somerfeld was born in 1901 in

University of California at Los Angeles.[citation needed
]

Career and research

She and her husband, Eugene Ziskind, started their own small psychiatric practice on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles during the Depression. They only charged patients at half price, and often received payment in the form of gifts.

Metrazol to create convulsions in a patient with Parkinson's diseases which gave favourable results. This was remarkable as there were few ways of mitigating this disease,[3] however Metrazol therapy was generally abandoned in 1941.[4]

In 1953, she and her husband were cofounders along with Eugene's two brothers, social worker Louis Ziskind and attorney David Ziskind, of Gateways Hospital and Mental Health Center.[5] (Gateways hospital was extant in 2015 and had 55 beds.[6]) She also served as the chair of the psychiatry department at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Later in life, Somerfeld-Ziskind worked extensively as a faculty member of the medical school at the University of Southern California, teaching child psychiatry, group therapy, and psychopathology.[1]

Throughout her career, Somerfeld-Ziskind and her husband worked together to research the use of

Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
. Some of these included:

Awards

In 1931, Somerfeld-Ziskind earned an award for her research article titled "Meningeal Allergy in Tuberculosis" by the California Medical Association.[10]

She and her husband began lecture-discussion groups at the old Cedars of Lebanon Hospital, which were the first group therapy sessions in the city. In 1987, they received an Honorary Award for distinguished service by the Southern California Psychiatric Society in 1987.[2]

Personal life

An accomplished classical pianist, Somerfeld-Ziskind owned two baby grands. She often hosted performances of eight-handed compositions that she played with friends.[2] She was also an avid reader, and belonged to two book discussion clubs. Until the last year of her life, she wrote book reviews for the journal of the American Psychiatric Association, analyzing texts of 1,000 pages or more.[2] While her husband of 65 years died in 1993, Somerfeld-Ziskind lived to be 101 years old. Up through her final year, she was still attending to patients at Los Angeles Children's Hospital, where she was remembered as "a legend". She died at her home in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, on November 11, 2002.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b "Alumni News" The University of Chicago Magazine. N.p., Feb. 2003.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Woo, Elaine. "Dr. Esther Somerfeld-Ziskind, 101; Pioneering Physician." Los Angeles Times 22 Nov. 2002.
  3. ISBN 978-0-8135-6052-6
    .
  4. ^ Metrazol Therapy, FairStateHospital.com, Retrieved 18 November 2015
  5. ^ Aushenker, Michael. The Circuit, Jewish Journal News. N.p., 25 Sept. 2003.
  6. ^ Gateways Hospital, USNews.com, Retrieved 18 November 2015
  7. ^ Ziskind E, Somerfeld—Ziskind E, Ziskind L. Metrazol And Electric Convulsive Therapy Of The Affective Psychoses: A Controlled Series Of Observations Covering A Period Of Five Years. Arch NeurPsych.
  8. ^ Somerfeld-Ziskind E, Ziskind E. Effect Of Phenobarbital On The Mentality Of Epileptic Patients. Arch NeurPsych. 1940;43(1):70–79.
  9. S2CID 144655164
    .
  10. ^ Somerfeld E, Ziskind E. Meningeal Allergy In Tuberculosis: Research, Prize Paper Of The Sixtieth Annual Session Of The California Medical Association. California and Western Medicine. 1931;35(4):255–262.
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