Zaun, Hansotto

Hansotto Zaun (1930–2018) was born in Wuppertal. He began his training in dermatology in 1958 as a medical assistant at the Dermatology Clinic in Göttingen. From 1960 to 1962, he served as a research assistant to Professor Otto Braun-Falco in Marburg, and subsequently to Professor Fritz Nödl at the University Dermatology Clinic in Homburg/Saar.

There, in 1967, he earned his habilitation in dermatology and venereology with a thesis on “Pathological Reactions of the Hair Follicle,” which was awarded the Hans Schwarzkopf Research Prize by the German Dermatological Society and served as the basis for trichological research for many years.

In the same year he completed his habilitation, he was appointed senior physician; in 1969, he became a scientific advisor; and in 1971, he was named adjunct professor. Even after completing his habilitation, the physiology and pathology of hair and nails remained his primary areas of scientific focus, supplemented by dermatological endocrinology and skin changes associated with diseases of internal organs. In these fields, he published more than 200 journal articles, several textbook chapters, and monographs; he shared his extensive clinical knowledge with colleagues in over 250 lectures.

In 1974, Hansotto Zaun became chief physician at the dermatology clinic of the Reinkenheide Municipal Hospital in Bremerhaven, although it functioned more as a counseling center for patients with sexually transmitted diseases than as a dermatology clinic. Within six years, he succeeded in establishing a veritable dermatology clinic in Bremerhaven, not least due to his ability to collaborate with colleagues without regard for personal prestige.

In the fall of 1980, he returned to Homburg/Saar and took over the chair from his former boss, Fritz Nödl. Upon his retirement in 1996, he handed over a large, well-established dermatology clinic to his successor, Professor Wolfgang Tilgen. Hansotto Zaun was also active in university committees, serving, for example, as dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Saarland University from 1994 to 1996.

Dill D et al (2019) Obituary of Prof Dr Hansotto Zaun. The dermatologist 70:150-152