Joseph Erlanger House in St. Louis
Dr. Joseph Erlanger won the 1944 Nobel Peace Prize in Medicine, while a faculty member of Washington University School of Medicine. The committee awarded Dr. Erlanger and another faculty member, Dr. Herbert Spencer Gasser, the prize for discovering different types of nerve fibers. The building below is the house Dr. Erlanger moved into, when arriving in St. Louis in 1917.
Dr. Erlanger lived in the house in 1944 and lived in the house until his death at 91 years of age on December 5, 1965. The three-story home was built in 1903. Today, it is a private residence. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976.
Dr. Joseph Erlanger (Public Domain)
Dr. Joseph Erlanger was born in San Francisco, California on January 5, 1874. According to his biography on the Nobel Prize website, he received a Bachelor of Chemistry from the University of California. He earned his Doctor of Medicine from John Hopkiins University in 1899.
He stayed at John Hopkins until he went to the University of Wisconsin in 1906. Herbert Spencer Gasser was one of his students. Dr. Erlanger joined the faculty of Washington University School of Medicine in 1910.
He would later collaborate with Gasser in 1922, where they would use an oscilloscope to study nerve action. They would receive the Nobel Prize for this work. Dr. Erlanger retired to Professor Emeritus status in 1946.
Dr. Erlanger remained in St. Louis until his death. His accomplishments are celebrated at the Washington University School of Medicine, where among other things an auditorium has been named for him.
Dr. Erlanger married his wife, Aimee Hirstel in 1906. They had three children, one of whom, Herman, was also a Professor of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine. Aimee preceded Dr. Erlanger in death, when she passed on May 23, 1959 at 82 years of age.
St. Louisans have been responsible for many innovations in medicine, business, manufacturing and other areas but it is not often recognized.
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