Kolisch was born at
Koryčany,
Moravia on 10 December 1867, the son of postmaster Adolf Kolisch and Amalie Reif. He was the nephew of the author and journalist . He studied medicine at
Vienna and
Heidelberg (M.D. 1891). In 1895 he became privat-docent in medicine at the
University of Vienna. Besides lecturing during the sessions of the university he practised medicine in
Karlsbad during the summer months. Kolisch was one of the first authors in Germany to support the view of French physiologist
Claude Bernard that
diabetes is caused by increased formation of sugar in the tissues. He was the principal champion of a
vegetarian diet and a restriction of protein to treat diabetes. Kolisch's work had a strong influence on the development of diabetes therapy in the two decades prior to the first use of
insulin in 1922, a time when the most important problem in diabetes therapy was balancing the ratio between protein and carbohydrates. Kolisch was father of the violinist
Rudolf Kolisch and
Gertrud Schoenberg. He died on 7 April 1922 in
Vienna. ==Publications==