Paul Julius Möbius

Paul Julius Möbius (German: [ˈmøːbi̯ʊs]; 24 January 1853 – 8 January 1907) was a German neurologist born in Leipzig. His grandfather was the German mathematician and theoretical astronomer August Ferdinand Möbius (1790–1868).

Prior to entering the medical field in 1873, he studied philosophy and theology at the Universities of Leipzig, Jena and Marburg. After earning his medical doctorate in 1876, he enlisted in the army, attaining the rank of Oberstabsarzt (senior staff surgeon). After leaving the army, he returned to Leipzig, where he opened a private practice and worked as an assistant to neurologist Adolph Strümpell (1853-1925) at the university policlinic. In 1883 he obtained his habilitation for neurology.

He was a prolific writer and is well known for publications in the fields of neurophysiology and endocrinology. Among his writings in psychiatry were psychopathological studies of Goethe, Rousseau, Schopenhauer and Nietzsche. He was also an editor of Schmidt's Jahrbücher der in- und ausländischen gesammten Medizin.

Möbius made pioneer contributions towards the understanding of how some mental illnesses occur. He is credited for providing a distinction between exogenous and endogenous nerve disorders, and introduced ideas on the etiology of hysteria.