Seligmann , Siegfried , 1870-1926 , ophthalmologist and private scholar

Siegfried Seligmann was born in Wandsbek (now part of Hamburg), 1870; studied medicine in Freiburg, Strasbourg, Berlin and Munich, qualifying in 1895; chose to specialize in ophthalmology and worked in Berlin for a few years before returning to Hamburg in 1898, where he continued to practise as an eye specialist; married Alice Warburg in 1904. Alongside his medical career, Seligmann became a leading public figure in Hamburg and carried out research into magic and superstition as a private scholar; his 1910 work Der Böse Blick (The Evil Eye) is still considered a classic. He worked as a military doctor during the First World War, resuming his Hamburg practice when hostilities ceased and continuing to work until his death in 1926.