Arthur Biedl (1869-1933), Hungarian pathologist and endocrinologist. In 1910 Biedl published the first comprehensive textbook on glands and their secretions. This work lead to his reputation as the father of modern endocrinology. Biedl also described a hereditary illness characterised by obesity, polydactyly (extra fingers or toes), hypogonadism (underfunctioning testes or ovaries), mental retardation and the eye disease retinitis pigmentosa, which eventually leads to blindness. The disease had also been independently described by Georges Bardet, and was named Bardet-Biedl syndrome.