From Germany to Venezuela: The two careers of the Jewish-born pathologist Rudolf Jaffé (1885-1975).

The pathologist Rudolf Jaffé (1885-1975) is considered one of the most important specialists of his time - even though he had to flee from the Nazis and attempt a professional restart in South America. The article examines the concrete background of his emigration to South America and the factors that enabled Jaffé to establish pathology as a scientific discipline in Venezuela. Various archival documents and materials from the private archives of Jaffé's descendants serve as sources. These documents are supplemented by relevant secondary literature. Jaffé's career can be divided into four phases: (1) Jaffé's broad education, which qualified him for his later work in Venezuela. (2) Jaffé's professional activity at the Senckenberg Institute of Pathology in Frankfurt. (3) His career peak in Germany as head of the Institute of Pathology in Berlin-Moabit, and finally (4) his forced emigration to Venezuela, where he became the doyen of the field of pathology. It can be shown that Jaffé's great scientific success, even after his emigration, was based on three factors: his exceptional personality, his broad, multifaceted training, and the special conditions in Venezuela.