Auguste Rollier (1 October 1874 - 30 October 1954) was a Swiss

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

best known for his research on heliotherapy.

History

Rollier was born at

Saint-Aubin, Fribourg Saint-Aubin (; frp, Sent-Arbin ) is a municipality in the district of Broye in the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland. On 1 January 1991 the former municipality of Les Friques merged into Saint-Aubin.Emil Theodor Kocher Emil Theodor Kocher (25 August 1841 – 27 July 1917) was a Swiss physician and medical researcher who received the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work in the physiology, pathology and surgery of the thyroid. Among his many a ...

for four years. In 1903, Rollier opened his Institute of Heliotherapy in

Leysin Leysin is a municipality of the canton of Vaud in the Aigle district of Switzerland. It is first mentioned around 1231–32 as ''Leissins'', in 1352 as ''Leisins''. Located in the Vaud Alps, Leysin is a sunny alpine resort village at the easte ...

. He advocated fresh air, physical exercise, rest and sunshine to treat his patients. He became known for his treatment of skeletal tuberculosis by heliotherapy (light therapy). He combined

sunbathing Sun tanning or tanning is the process whereby skin color is darkened or tanned. It is most often a result of exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from sunlight or from artificial sources, such as a tanning lamp found in indoor tanning b ...

with climatic treatment by cold air and high altitude. After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, it was reported that 1746 of 2167 patients had recovered their health under his care. Rollier was influenced by the research of

Niels Ryberg Finsen Niels Ryberg Finsen (15 December 1860 – 24 September 1904) was a Faroese- Icelandic physician and scientist. In 1903, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology "in recognition of his contribution to the treatment of diseases, e ...

and established sunbathing clinics in the Swiss Alps. R. A. Hobday noted that "Rollier practised sunlight therapy at Leysin for over forty years and had thirty-six clinics with a total of more than 1,000 beds." After antimicrobial therapy became available, heliotherapy for tuberculosis was no longer practiced. Rollier was elected an honorary member of the

American Clinical and Climatological Association The American Clinical and Climatological Association (ACCA) is a society for the study of climatology, balneology, and the diseases of the respiratory and circulatory organs. It is composed of physicians residing in the United States and Canada. It ...

in 1923.

Selected publications

*''La Cure de Soleil'' (1914) *''Heliotherapy'' (1923) *''Heliotherapy, With Special Consideration of Surgical Tuberculosis'' (1927)

References

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rollier, Auguste 1874 births 1954 deaths 20th-century Swiss physicians Light therapy advocates University of Zurich alumni