Wilhelm von Henke
Philipp Jakob Wilhelm von Henke was a German anatomist.
Early life
On 19 June 1834, Henke was born. Henke's father was Ernst Ludwig Theodor Henke, a historian, while his mother was Berte Fries, a daughter of Jakob Friedrich Fries. This makes him the nephew of Hugo Friedrich Fries, and a cousin of Francis Henry Fries.Education
Henke studied at the universities of Marburg, Göttingen and Berlin, receiving his doctorate in 1857 at Marburg.Career
Henke started his career as an assistant to physiologist Franciscus Donders at Utrecht University. In 1858 he obtained his habilitation, then later served as a professor of anatomy at the universities of Rostock, Prague and Tübingen.The eponymous "Henke's space" is synonymous with the retropharyngeal space.
''Venus de Milo''
Henke was a notable figure in the movement believing that the famous Ancient Greek Venus de Milo statue, sculpted some time between 150 - 100 BC, possibly had some kind of spinal curvature condition, like scoliosis. Henke noted that the statue of the Greek goddess Aphrodite had a slanted pelvis and legs of different lengths.This observation led to some believing that the statue was meant to symbolise the appreciation of imperfection, in contrast to the established Ancient Greek obsession with the perfect human form, as well as a focus on inner beauty rather than the external appearance. Some even taking it so far as to believe the statue was meant as a symbol for disability.
Henke's colleague, Christophe Hasse, later performed extensive studies into the matter and concluded that the imperfections and asymmetry in the Venus de Milo statue were not significant enough to imply any kind of spinal issue or condition when compared to the population as a whole. Potentially disproving Henke's initial theory, as well as the later belief of the potential hidden meanings the statue may hold with regards to disability.