The association of truncal obesity and deficient gonadal development, with ablation of the anterior section of the pituitary gland, was reported by Fröhlich in 1901 in a provincial medical journal. Viennese by birth and education, his cultural and academic interests were worthy of his nativity.1 He was an accomplished pianist, well versed in literature, a stimulating conversationalist, and an outstanding natural scientist, with many international friends. He received an upper class general education in Vienna and in 1895 the MD degree from the university. Initially he joined Nothnagel's department of medicine; later he assisted Basch in experimental pathology and L. Frankl-Hochwart in the neurological clinic. In the interim, he traveled to England to study with Sherrington in Liverpool, where he became acquainted with Cushing, also a student of the pituitary gland; later he worked with Langley in Cambridge.
Fröhlich's first appointment, with tenure, was in the department of pharmacology