Rokitansky, detail of an engraving
Karl, baron von Rokitansky
Born:
Feb. 19, 1804, Königgrätz, Austria
Died:
July 23, 1878, Vienna (aged 74)
Notable Works:
“Treatise of Pathological Anatomy”

Karl, baron von Rokitansky (born Feb. 19, 1804, Königgrätz, Austria—died July 23, 1878, Vienna) Austrian pathologist whose endeavours to establish a systematic picture of the sick organism from nearly 100,000 autopsies—30,000 of which he himself performed—helped make the study of pathological anatomy a cornerstone of modern medical practice and established the New Vienna School as a world medical centre during the latter half of the 19th century. A professor of pathological anatomy (1844–74) at the Vienna General Hospital, he inspired the Bohemian student Ignaz Semmelweis, later a martyr to the cause of antiseptic medical practice, to take up the study ...(100 of 248 words)