January 24, 2025

It is with great sadness that our institute bids farewell to Prof. Dr. Dietrich von Engelhardt, who passed away on January 14, 2025. From 2008 to 2011, Prof. Dr. Dietrich von Engelhardt was acting director of the Institute for the History and Ethics of Medicine at the Technical University of Munich, which was established in 1972 shortly after the founding of the TUM Faculty of Medicine.

In this role, he has not only advanced the development of our institute, but has also provided significant impetus for interdisciplinary research at the interface of philosophy, history, medicine and the natural sciences. Particularly impressive was his magnum opus "Medicine in Modern Literature", published only a few years ago, a five-volume series that comprehensively presents, from antiquity to the present day, how literary works have influenced and stimulated individual readers and the public consciousness in their attitude and behavior towards the sick and medicine.

The philosopher and historian's research focused on the history of the relationship between the natural sciences and philosophy, the history of medical ethics, the philosophical understanding of illness and the prerequisites for understanding nature.

In Prof. Dr. Dietrich von Engelhardt, we have lost not only an outstanding scientist, but also a valued colleague. Our sympathies go out to his family and all those who were close to him at this difficult time. His legacy will live on in our work and in our memory.

On behalf of the entire Institute for the History and Ethics of Medicine, Technical University of Munich,

Prof. Dr. Alena Buyx