It is with great regret that we report the death of Dr. Rudolph Fritz Weiss, considered the leading figure in phytotherapy (herbal medicine) in Germany. He studied medicine and botany at the University of Berlin and received his degree in Internal Medicine at Berlin Charity in 1922. From 1939 he was an assistant professor for phytotherapy at the Berlin Academy and from 1939 until the end of World War II, he served as doctor in a German military reserves hospital, where he pioneered Rehabilitation Therapy. Following the war, he was a prisoner of the Russians for seven years.

In 1978 Dr. Weiss was appointed by the Minister of Health to the Commission E (to approve phytomedicines) of the Department of Health in Berlin. He authored over 100 original scientific papers on herbs. In 1980 he was the founding editor and publisher of the Zeitschrift für Phytotherapie (Journal of Phytotherapy). In 1984 Dr. Weiss became a lecturer at the University of Tubingen with a professorship in "Modern Phytotherapy in Medical Practice." He wrote Manual of Phytotherapy, one of the most famous books on herbal medicine in Germany. Most U.S. herbalists consider the sixth edition of this book (translated into England as Herbal Medicine) to be the most authoritative reference on clinical European herbalism.

Article copyright American Botanical Council.