- Ferdinand Sauerbruch
Ernst Ferdinand Sauerbruch (
3 July 1875 –2 July 1951 ) was a German surgeon.Sauerbruch was born in
Barmen (now a district ofWuppertal ), Germany. He studiedmedicine at thePhilipps University of Marburg , theUniversity of Greifswald , theFriedrich Schiller University of Jena , and theUniversity of Leipzig , from the last of which he graduated in 1902. He went toBreslau in 1903, where he developed theSauerbruch chamber , a pressure chamber for operating on the openthorax , which he demonstrated in 1904. As a battlefield surgeon duringWorld War I , he developed several new types of limb prostheses, which enabled simple movements.Sauerbruch worked at the
Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich from 1918 to 1927 on surgical techniques and diets for treatingtuberculosis . From 1928 to 1949, he worked at theCharité inBerlin , attaining international fame for his risky (but mostly successful) operations. BeforeWorld War II , Adolf Hitler awarded him theGerman National Prize for Art and Science . (He was one of only nine recipients.) During the war he was anti-Nazi. His influence onFritz Kolbe caused the man to become aspy for theAllies — reputedly the most important spy of the war.Sauerbruch's name may appear in histories of
iatrogenesis , or adverse effects resulting from medical treatment. Late in life, he became demented and continued to perform absurd operations on many patients, with fatal results. His colleagues detected the errors but were unable to stop him because of his fame and power (for an account, see Youngson, 1997).Sauerbruch died in
Berlin at the age of seventy-five.Bibliography
* Ferdinand Sauerbruch: Das war mein Leben, Autobiography, 639 pages, Kindler u. Schiermeyer 1951
* Youngson, R.M.. The demented surgeon is operating. In: "Medical Curiosities". Carroll & Graf, New York, 1997.Weblink
* [http://vlp.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/library/data/lit38416 Excerpt from the movie Die willkürlich bewegbare künstliche Hand (1937) by Sauerbruch]
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