Hermann Guido von Samson-Himmelstjerna; name sometimes given as Guido Samson von Himmelstiern (, Korast – ,

Dorpat Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern Europe, Northern Europe, European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres ...

) was a

Baltic German Baltic Germans (german: Deutsch-Balten or , later ) were ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their coerced resettlement in 1939, Baltic Germans have markedly declined ...

physician and professor of ''Staatsarzneikunde'' (state pharmacopoeia). From 1826 he studied medicine at the

University of Dorpat The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...

, earning his doctorate in 1834. Afterwards he continued his education at the Frederick William's University of Berlin, the

University of Würzburg The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. The University of Würzburg is one of ...

and 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 ...

, where he studied with Karl von Rokitansky (1804-1878). From 1845 until his death in 1868 he was a medical professor at Dorpat. From 1865 until his death he was also the

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

. He was the president of the

Estonian Naturalists' Society Estonian Naturalists' Society ( et, Eesti Looduseuurijate Selts, ELUS) is the oldest Estonia-based society of naturalists. It was founded in 1853, and since establishing has been the major scientific organisation focusing on natural history of E ...

in 1862–1868. In 1856–58 with

ophthalmologist Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgery, surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Followin ...

Georg von Oettingen (1824-1916), he conducted statistical research of over 650,000 inhabitants of

Livonia Livonia ( liv, Līvõmō, et, Liivimaa, fi, Liivinmaa, German and Scandinavian languages: ', archaic German: ''Liefland'', nl, Lijfland, Latvian and lt, Livonija, pl, Inflanty, archaic English: ''Livland'', ''Liwlandia''; russian: Ли ...

in regard to

eye disease This is a partial list of human eye diseases and disorders. The World Health Organization publishes a classification of known diseases and injuries, the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, or ICD-10. ...

and blindness. The two doctors included their findings in a treatise titled ''Populäre Anleitung zur Pflege und Behandlung der unter der ländlichen Bevölkerung in den Ostseevrovinzen Rußlands in sondere in Livland am häufigsten vorkommenden Augenkrankheiten'' (Popular Guide to the Care and Treatment of the Rural Population in the Russian Baltic Provinces, particularly in Livonia in regard to Common Diseases of the Eye, 1860).

References

translated biography

Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' (ADB, german: Universal German Biography) is one of the most important and comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language. It was published by the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Aca ...

* ''Parts of this article are based on a translation of an article on Georg von Oettingen from the German Wikipedia.'' 1809 births 1868 deaths People from Kanepi Parish People from Kreis Werro Baltic-German people Academic staff of the University of Tartu Rectors of the University of Tartu Burials at Raadi cemetery {{Germany-med-bio-stub