Karl Thiersch, also spelled Carl Thiersch (20 April 1822 – 28 April 1895), was a German surgeon born in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

. His father was educationist

Friedrich Thiersch Friedrich Wilhelm Thiersch (17 June 178425 February 1860), was a German classical scholar and educationist. Biography He was born at Kirchscheidungen (now a part of Laucha an der Unstrut, Saxony-Anhalt). In 1809 he became professor at the ...

, his father-in-law was renowned

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe t ...

Justus von Liebig. One brother, Ludwig, was an influential painter, while another, Heinrich Wilhelm Josias, was a theologian. He received his doctorate from the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

in 1843, where from 1848 to 1854 he served as

prosector A prosector is a person with the special task of preparing a dissection for demonstration, usually in medical schools or hospitals. Many important anatomists began their careers as prosectors working for lecturers and demonstrators in anatomy and p ...

pathological anatomy Anatomical pathology (''Commonwealth'') or Anatomic pathology (''U.S.'') is a medical specialty that is concerned with the diagnosis of disease based on the macroscopic, microscopic, biochemical, immunologic and molecular examination o ...

. Afterwards he became a professor of surgery at the Universities of

Erlangen Erlangen (; East Franconian: ''Erlang'', Bavarian: ''Erlanga'') is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative district Erlangen), and with 116,062 inhab ...

(from 1854) and

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

(from 1867). He was a medical surgeon in the First War of Schleswig under Louis Stromeyer (1804–1876), and a medical consultant during the Franco-Prussian War. In 1865 Thiersch demonstrated the

epithelial Epithelium or epithelial tissue is one of the four basic types of animal tissue, along with connective tissue, muscle tissue and nervous tissue. It is a thin, continuous, protective layer of compactly packed cells with a little intercell ...

origin of carcinoma, which put him in opposition to the doctrine of

Rudolf Virchow Rudolf Ludwig Carl Virchow (; or ; 13 October 18215 September 1902) was a German physician, anthropologist, pathologist, prehistorian, biologist, writer, editor, and politician. He is known as "the father of modern pathology" and as the founder ...

in that a carcinoma could originate from connective tissue. Thiersch's findings were thus agreed upon by research done by

Wilhelm von Waldeyer-Hartz Heinrich Wilhelm Gottfried von Waldeyer-Hartz (6 October 1836 – 23 January 1921) was a German anatomist, known for summarizing neuron theory and for naming the chromosome. He is also remembered by anatomical structures of the human body which ...

(1836–1921) at the

University of Breslau A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

. He is also credited with modifying

Joseph Lister Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister, (5 April 182710 February 1912) was a British surgeon, medical scientist, experimental pathologist and a pioneer of antiseptic surgery and preventative medicine. Joseph Lister revolutionised the craft of ...

's technique of

antiseptic An antiseptic (from Greek ἀντί ''anti'', "against" and σηπτικός ''sēptikos'', "putrefactive") is an antimicrobial substance or compound that is applied to living tissue/skin to reduce the possibility of infection, sepsis, or putre ...

sterilization by substituting salicylic acid for

carbolic acid Phenol (also called carbolic acid) is an aromaticity, aromatic organic compound with the molecular chemical formula, formula . It is a white crystalline solid that is volatility (chemistry), volatile. The molecule consists of a phenyl group () ...

. In addition, he made contributions involving

wound healing Wound healing refers to a living organism's replacement of destroyed or damaged tissue by newly produced tissue. In undamaged skin, the epidermis (surface, epithelial layer) and dermis (deeper, connective layer) form a protective barrier again ...

treatment and in research of

phosphorus necrosis of the jaw Phossy jaw, formally known as phosphorus necrosis of the jaw, was an occupational disease affecting those who worked with white phosphorus (also known as ''yellow phosphorus'') without proper safeguards. It was most commonly seen in workers in the ...

. His name is associated with "Thiersch's graft", a method of split-

skin grafting Skin grafting, a type of graft surgery, involves the transplantation of skin. The transplanted tissue is called a skin graft. Surgeons may use skin grafting to treat: * extensive wounding or trauma * burns * areas of extensive skin loss d ...

that he developed. This graft is sometimes referred to as an Ollier–Thiersch graft (named with French surgeon

Louis Léopold Ollier Louis Xavier Édouard Léopold Ollier (; 2 December 1830 – 26 November 1900) was a French surgeon, known for his pioneering work in reconstructive surgery and orthopedics. Biography Ollier was born in Les Vans, department of Ardèche. His fathe ...

Selected publications

* ''Infectionsversuche an Thieren mit dem Inhalte des Choleradarmes'' Munich, 1856. (won a prize from the French Academy in 1867) * ''De maxillarum necrosi phosphorica''; Leipzig, 1867. * ''Der Epithelialkrebs, namentlich der Haut. Eine anatomisch-klinische Untersuchung'' (with atlas), Leipzig, 1865 * ''Klinische Ergebnisse der Lister'schem Wundbehandlung und über den Ersatz der Carbolsäure durch Salicylsäure'' In:

Richard von Volkmann Richard von Volkmann (17 August 1830 – 28 November 1889) was a prominent German surgeon and author of poetry and fiction. Some of his works were illustrated by his son, Hans, a well known artist. Biography He was born in Leipzig on 17 August ...

's Sammlung klinischer Vorträge, Leipzig, nos. 84, 85.

References

"Karl Thiersch"
at

Who Named It ''Whonamedit?'' is an online English-language dictionary of medical eponyms and the people associated with their identification. Though it is a dictionary, many eponyms and persons are presented in extensive articles with comprehensive bibliograp ...

The Medical News (1895)
(Biography of Karl Thiersch) 1822 births 1895 deaths Physicians from Munich German surgeons Academic staff of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg Academic staff of Leipzig University {{Germany-med-bio-stub