Robert Friedrich Froriep (2 February 1804 – 15 June 1861) was a German anatomist who was a native of Jena

Jena

Jena is a university city in central Germany on the river Saale. It has a population of approx. 103,000 and is the second largest city in the federal state of Thuringia, after Erfurt.-History:Jena was first mentioned in an 1182 document...

. He was the father of anatomist August von Froriep

August von Froriep

August von Froriep was a German anatomist who was born in Weimar. He studied medicine in Leipzig, and after earning his doctorate in 1874, he became an assistant to Christian Wilhelm Braune . Later he was a prosector and eventually a professor at the University of Tübingen...

 (1849–1917).

He studied medicine in Bonn

Bonn

Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....

, and later became prosector

Prosector

A prosector is a person with the special task of preparing a dissection for demonstration, usually in medical schools or hospitals. Many important anatomists began their careers as prosectors working for lecturers and demonstrators in anatomy and pathology....

 at the Charité

Charité

The Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin is the medical school for both the Humboldt University and the Free University of Berlin. After the merger with their fourth campus in 2003, the Charité is one of the largest university hospitals in Europe....

 Hospital in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

, where he was mentor to Rudolf Virchow

Rudolf Virchow

Rudolph Carl Virchow was a German doctor, anthropologist, pathologist, prehistorian, biologist and politician, known for his advancement of public health...

 (1821–1902). He held this position from 1833 until 1846, and supplemented his income as a teacher of anatomic drawing at the Academy of Fine Arts. In 1846 he was succeeded by Virchow as prosector at the Charité, and during the same year Froriep became director of the Weimarischer Landes-Industrie-Comptoir in Weimar

Weimar

Weimar is a city in Germany famous for its cultural heritage. It is located in the federal state of Thuringia , north of the Thüringer Wald, east of Erfurt, and southwest of Halle and Leipzig. Its current population is approximately 65,000. The oldest record of the city dates from the year 899...

, where he was a publisher of illustrated scientific and medical works.

In 1843 Froriep was the first to mention the symptoms of fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia is a medical disorder characterized by chronic widespread pain and allodynia, a heightened and painful response to pressure. It is an example of a diagnosis of exclusion...

 in a treatise called 'Ein beitrag zur pathologie und therapie des rheumatismus". He referred to the condition as muskelschwiele or muscle callus

Callus

A callus is an especially toughened area of skin which has become relatively thick and hard in response to repeated friction, pressure, or other irritation. Rubbing that is too frequent or forceful will cause blisters rather than allow calluses to form. Since repeated contact is required, calluses...

es. He described the calluses as "tender areas in muscle that felt like a cord associated with rheumatic

Rheumatism

Rheumatism or rheumatic disorder is a non-specific term for medical problems affecting the joints and connective tissue. The study of, and therapeutic interventions in, such disorders is called rheumatology.-Terminology:...

complaints".