December 19th 2015 marks the centennial anniversary of the death of the great Bavarian psychiatrist and
neuropathologist, Alois Alzheimer (1864–1915), a man immortalised by the still incurable dementing
process described by him in 1906 and firmly established in his name. Notwithstanding the great wealth
of research into the history of Alzheimer’s disease and legacy, the life of this exemplary clinician remains
less than widely appreciated today, and it is the purpose of this brief reminiscence to retell the story of
the pioneering neuropsychiatrist in this centenary year of his passing.