Hermann Askan Demme (* 28 August 1802 in

Altenburg Altenburg () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located south of Leipzig, west of Dresden and east of Erfurt. It is the capital of the Altenburger Land district and part of a polycentric old-industrial textile and metal production region betw ...

; † 18 January 1867 in

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

) was a German-

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. Demme was the son of Hermann Gottfried, ''Generalsuperintendent'' of Sachsen-Altenburg. At first, he studied

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

and

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a popu ...

and Berlin. 1822 he entered the ''Jenaischen

Burschenschaft A Burschenschaft (; sometimes abbreviated in the German ''Burschenschaft'' jargon; plural: ) is one of the traditional (student associations) of Germany, Austria, and Chile (the latter due to German cultural influence). Burschenschaften were fo ...

''.Helge Dvorak: ''Biografisches Lexikon der Deutschen Burschenschaft.'' Band I Politiker, Teilband 1: A-E. Heidelberg 1996, S. 190. He finished his studies 1830 and became assistant to

Johann Lukas Schönlein Johann Lukas Schönlein (30 November 1793 – 23 January 1864) was a German naturalist, and professor of medicine, born in Bamberg. He studied medicine at Landshut, Jena, Göttingen, and Würzburg. After teaching at Würzburg and Zurich, he was ...

. 1831 he was a military doctor in

Warschau Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officially ...

, 1832 he visited the United States of America. In 1833, Demme married Marie Lucie Elisabeth Auguste Diruf (1808-1882) from

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

. They had one daughter and three sons. In the same year, he became professor for

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its ...

at 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 1834 he became professor at the

University of Bern The University of Bern (german: Universität Bern, french: Université de Berne, la, Universitas Bernensis) is a university in the Switzerland, Swiss capital of Bern and was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the Canton of Bern. It ...

. 1847 he was the first in the German-speaking world to perform surgery using

ether In organic chemistry, ethers are a class of compounds that contain an ether group—an oxygen atom connected to two alkyl or aryl groups. They have the general formula , where R and R′ represent the alkyl or aryl groups. Ethers can again be c ...

for

anesthesia Anesthesia is a state of controlled, temporary loss of sensation or awareness that is induced for medical or veterinary purposes. It may include some or all of analgesia (relief from or prevention of pain), paralysis (muscle relaxation), ...

Works

* ''Allgemeine Chirurgie der Schusswunden. Nach eigenen Erfahrungen in den norditalienischen Lazarethen von 1859 und mit Benutzung der bisherigen Leistungen'', Bd. 1 von Militärchirurgische Studien, Würzburg 1863
online
* ''Beiträge zur pathologischen Anatomie des Tetanus und einiger anderen Krankheiten des Nervensystems'', Leipzig und Heidelberg 1859
online
* ''Über die Veränderungen der Gewebe durch Brand. Ein Beitrag zur Pathologischen Histologie'', Frankfurt a. M. 1857
online

Sources

* Marie Lucie Elisabeth Auguste Demme-Diruf: ''Eine Erfahrung aus meinem Leben und zugleich ein Leitweg zu meiner Menschenkenntniss'', s.l., ca. 1866 (Universitätsarchiv Bern).

Literature

* Helge Dvorak: ''Biografisches Lexikon der Deutschen Burschenschaft.'' Band I Politiker, Teilband 1: A-E. Heidelberg 1996, S. 190–191. * Rahel Hert: ''Hermann Askan Demme (1802-1867). Der erste Chirurgieprofessor der Universität Bern. Leben und Werk'', Bern 2011 (Diss.). * * Hermann Rennefahrt, E. Hintzsche, ''600 Jahre Inselspital'', Bern 1954. * ''Sammlung Bernischer Biographien'', Bd. 3 (1898), S. 481–518.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Demme, Rudolf 19th-century Swiss physicians University of Bern faculty Scientists from Bern 1802 births 1867 deaths