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Modern dermatology, as a separate branch of medicine, came into being in the 19th century. Alfred Biesiadecki was an outstanding anatomic pathologist and the pioneer in the histopathologic examination of the skin. Biesiadecki was the first to describe the exact distribution of lymphatic vessels in the skin. He dealt with the histopathologic mechanisms of dermatitis and skin grafts, and his work was the forerunner of studies of neoplasms in the skin vasculature. His scientific achievements secured him a prominent place in the history of dermatology in Europe and around the globe. The present work outlines a biography of Alfred Biesiadecki and his most important studies of both dermatology and other branches of medicine., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

President of prewar Lvov and Polish Republic on Exile, associate professor Stanisław Ostrowski was a dermatologist with a keen interest in dermatopathology. This study was based on original resources, which - mainly reports of his own authorship - were focused on dermatopathology. Stanisław Ostrowski provided excellent description of naevus epitheliomatosus sebaceus Wolters-Friboes both in Polish and German to be cited after decades in renowned handbooks of dermatopahtology published by Springer Verlag. His scientific output also includes meticulous presentation of Fox-Fordyce disease (apocrine miliaria) as well as gold-induced skin changes to Polish readership. Thus, this study documents dermatopahtological achievements of Stanisław Ostrowski - the unifying statesman of society of Lvov and Polish emigration in London.

Hebra in Vienna and later Unna in Hamburg are considered to be the protagonists of academic dermatopathology in the German-speaking literature. Whereas the former used a chiefly macroscopic approach to an academic classification, the concepts of the latter were based on microscopic observations. In contrast to pathologists, who in the nineteenth century were dominated by Virchow and his teachings, dermatologists as well as microscopically active gynecologists already applied histological findings for diagnostics and subsequent therapy. Chapters dealing with diseases of the skin in multivolume handbooks of pathology were initially mainly written by dermatologists. The majority of textbooks of dermatopathology were also written by dermatologists. One of the current aims of pathologists is the application of additional methods, e.g. molecular pathology in order to better understand and treat neoplastic diseases, in particular pigmented skin tumors.

Otto Schrön was a German histologist of the mid-19th century who spent most of his life in Italy where he was full professor of pathologic anatomy at the University of Naples. Already as a medical student, he participated in studies by Carl Thiersch that proved the epithelial origin of cancer. Schrön went on to study the histology and histopathology of the skin and was the first to discover desmosomes and the tonofilament system, although he did not recognize the true physiologic role of those structures.

Hans Biberstein first described the basaloid follicular hyperplasia overlying dermatofibromas in 1923 and published his extensive observations on the subject in 1931. Part of Josef Jadassohn's department in Breslau, he was forced to leave German by the National Socialist regime and spent the rest of his career in New York. After a hiatus of 30 years, the dermatopathologic literature once again began addressing his seminal finding but never gave him proper credit. We suggest Biberstein's sign as an appropriate term for basaloid follicular hyperplasia overlying a dermatofibroma and as a small tribute to a pioneer dermatopathologist.

Jacob Henle was one of the most important anatomists of all times. He was the founder of modern histology and discovered numerous anatomic structures, such as Henle's loop in the kidneys and Henle's gland in the conjunctiva of the eyelids. Dermatologists know him chiefly for his description of Henle's layer of the inner root sheath of the hair follicle. Only few, however, are aware of other contributions of Henle to dermatology, such as the first description of Demodex folliculorum and, more importantly, the first book devoted to the histopathology of the skin. Henle's contributions were significant enough to qualify him as one of the foremost pioneers of dermatopathology.

The two most famous dermatologic eponyms born in Strasbourg are Pautrier microabscess and Woringer-Kolopp disease. Frederic Woringer (1903-1964) was one of Pautrier's students, who had been in charge of the Laboratoire d'Histopathologie Cutanée in Strasbourg from 1930 until his death. He achieved a brilliant career in the field of dermatopathology and was very active during the great period between World War I and II. His name is linked to a rare disease, pagetoid reticulosis, which he actually misunderstood, as he was at first convinced that the characteristic intraepidermal changes were due to Paget cells. In this article, we show for the first time the original correspondence between Kolopp (who sent the case to Strasbourg) and Woringer, including discussion with masters such as Pautrier and Civatte. Civatte suggested that these mysterious intraepidermal cells might have common morphologic features with the recently described Sezary cells. After the first publication of pagetoid reticulosis, it took almost 40 years to establish a clear link with mycosis fungoides. It was Braun Falco who named the disease after Woringer and Kolopp in 1974. Woringer would certainly be surprised to know that his name is still world famous, thanks to a rare disease he was the first to extensively describe in 1939, a few days before the declaration of war.

Already in his lifetime, Carl Rokitansky was celebrated as the "pioneer of modern pathology." It was he, more than anybody else, who launched the era of morphology in medicine. Close correlation between findings uncovered at autopsy and clinical signs and symptoms helped to shape the view of diseases as distinct pathologic processes, rather than accidental constellations of findings. On the occasion of his 200 birthday, this review describes the life and work of Rokitansky, including his discoveries, misconceptions, and contributions to dermatopathology.

This report traces the life of Pierre Masson and mentions some of his investigations. It summarizes Masson's seminal descriptions of glomus tumor and hémangioendothéliome végétant intra-vasculaire (intravascular papillary endothelial hyperplasia), also known as Masson's pseudoangiosarcoma and the Masson lesion. Finally, we reprise Masson's view of the origins of melanocytic nevi and mention Masson's neuronevus. The literature on these subsequent to Masson's articles is not discussed.