Eugen Steinach was born in Hohenems. He became professor of physiology at the German University of Prague, establishing a laboratory for physiology, especially of the sexual organs. From 1912 he directed the department of experimental biology at the Vienna Academy of Science. Steinach made many contributions to physiology and coined the name ‘puberty gland’. He devised an operation for rejuvenation on which he wrote a book. He spent his last years in Montreux, Switzerland.