Conrad Brunner (31 August 1859 in

Diessenhofen Diessenhofen is a village and a municipality in Frauenfeld District in the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland. The village is situated on the south shore of the High Rhine just opposite the German town of Gailingen am Hochrhein. History Diessenhofe ...

– 8 June 1927 in Zurich) was a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

physician, surgeon and medical historian. He was particularly concerned with the disinfection of wounds and their healing. Brunner came from a family of Swiss physicians and pharmacists, among whom was

Johann Conrad Brunner Johann Conrad Brunner (16 January 1653 – 2 October 1727) was a Swiss anatomist, especially cited for his work on the pancreas and duodenum. Life Brunner was born in Diessenhofen, and studied medicine in Schaffhausen, Strasbourg, Amsterda ...

. His father, John Brunner, was a physician and botanist. Brunner received medical degrees from the

University of Zurich The University of Zürich (UZH, german: Universität Zürich) is a public research university located in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 f ...

and the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

, and went on to receive an advanced

academic degree An academic degree is a qualification awarded to students upon successful completion of a course of study in higher education, usually at a college or university. These institutions commonly offer degrees at various levels, usually including unde ...

of Doctor of Medicine in 1885. He then completed his practical surgeon training studying under Rudolf Ulrich Krönlein. Beginning in 1888 he took a series of trips to noted surgeries, studying under

Theodor Billroth Christian Albert Theodor Billroth (26 April 18296 February 1894) was a German surgeon and amateur musician. As a surgeon, he is generally regarded as the founding father of modern abdominal surgery. As a musician, he was a close friend and conf ...

at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

Ernst von Bergmann Ernst Gustav Benjamin von Bergmann (16 December 1836 – 25 March 1907) was a Baltic German surgeon. He was the first physician to introduce heat sterilisation of surgical instruments and is known as a pioneer of aseptic surgery. Biography B ...

Humboldt University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

, and other surgeons at the University of Leipzig, the University of Dresden and the University of Münich. In 1888, with the third volume in 1889, he published his ''Erfahrungen und Studien über Wundinfektion und Wundbehandlung''.

Life

In 1889 Brunner married Clara Margot and opened a private practice in Zurich, with privileges at a number of nearby hospitals. Beginning in 1890 he served as an

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. Overview In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a ...

of surgery at the University of Zurich, relinquishing the position in 1897. From 1896 to 1922 he served as the chief physician at the Cantonal Hospital in

Münsterlingen Münsterlingen is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Kreuzlingen (district), Kreuzlingen in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Thurgau in Switzerland. History In 1994 the municipality was created from Landschlacht ...

. In 1922 he was the co-founder of the Thurgauisch-Schaffhausischen Pulmonary Sanatorium in

Davos , neighboring_municipalities= Arosa, Bergün/Bravuogn, Klosters-Serneus, Langwies, S-chanf, Susch , twintowns = } Davos (, ; or ; rm, ; archaic it, Tavate) is an Alpine resort town and a municipality in the Prättigau/Davos R ...

, primarily for

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

sufferers.

Work

Conrad Brunner conducted and published clinical, bacteriological and experimental studies on the effectiveness of various contemporary wound disinfection methods. He was able to prove that his method, namely the ''Brunner's Jodalkoholdesinfektion'', offered by far the best guarantee against the occurrence of wound diseases. Brunner researched and published on topics in the history of medicine, mostly as related to Switzerland.

Selected publications

* in three volumes. * * *

Honours

* 1921 Conrad Brunner received the Marcel Benoist Prize in recognition of his achievements in the field of wound care and wound disinfection. * 1922 Conrad Brunner received an honorary philosophy doctorate from the University of Zurich for his research on the history of medicine.

Notes

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