Józef Dietl (24 January 1804 in Podbuże near Sambor – 18 January 1878 in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

) was an

Austro Austro may refer to: * Austro-, a prefix denoting Austria * Austro (automobile), an Austrian cyclecar manufactured 1913–1914 * Austro Engine, an aircraft engine manufacturer * Ēostre () is a West Germanic spring goddess. The name is ref ...

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

physician born to an

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

father and

mother. He studied medicine in

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. He was a pioneer in

balneology Balneotherapy ( la, balneum "bath") is a method of treating diseases by bathing, a traditional medicine technique usually practiced at spas. Since ancient times, humans have used hot springs, public baths and thermal medicine for therapeutic eff ...

, and a professor of

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (Polish: ''Uniwersytet Jagielloński'', UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and the 13th oldest university in ...

, elected as its

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 ...

in 1861. Dietl described the

kidney The kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped organs found in vertebrates. They are located on the left and right in the retroperitoneal space, and in adult humans are about in length. They receive blood from the paired renal arteries; blood ...

ailment known as "Dietl’s Crisis" as well as its treatment. He is renowned worldwide for being a "reformer of medicine" since he demonstrated through experiments that

Bloodletting Bloodletting (or blood-letting) is the withdrawal of blood from a patient to prevent or cure illness and disease. Bloodletting, whether by a physician or by leeches, was based on an ancient system of medicine in which blood and other bodily flu ...

was useless if not dangerous. His experiments were based on the use of a "control group", a procedure still used today in the so-called "clinical trials" foundation of

Evidence-based medicine Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is "the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients". The aim of EBM is to integrate the experience of the clinician, the values of t ...

.Sven Ove Hansson, Why and for what are clinical trials the gold standard?, Scandinavian Journal of Public Health
/ref> From 1866 to 1874, Dietl was the mayor of Kraków.

References

* 1804 births 1878 deaths People from Lviv Oblast People from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Members of the Austrian House of Deputies (1861–1867) Mayors of Kraków 19th-century Polish physicians University of Lviv alumni University of Vienna alumni Jagiellonian University faculty Rectors of the Jagiellonian University Burials at Rakowicki Cemetery {{poland-med-bio-stub