Louis de Wecker (29 September 1832 – 24 January 1906) was a French

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 ...

born in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

, Germany. He studied medicine in

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg is ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

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

and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, earning doctorates from Würzburg (1855) and Paris (1861). From 1862 he maintained a popular ophthalmology clinic in Paris. In 1867 he performed an

enucleation of the eye Enucleation is the removal of the eye that leaves the eye muscles and remaining orbital contents intact. This type of ocular surgery is indicated for a number of ocular tumors, in eyes that have sustained severe trauma, and in eyes that are other ...

of Léon Gambetta. His name is associated with "de Wecker scissors", which are small sharp-pointed

scissors Scissors are hand-operated shearing tools. A pair of scissors consists of a pair of metal blades pivoted so that the sharpened edges slide against each other when the handles (bows) opposite to the pivot are closed. Scissors are used for cutti ...

used for

intraocular surgery Eye surgery, also known as ophthalmic or ocular surgery, is surgery performed on the human eye, eye or its Accessory visual structures, adnexa, by an ophthalmologist or sometimes, an optometrist. Eye surgery is synonymous with ophthalmology. The ...

of the iris and lens capsule. Dr.

José Rizal José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda (, ; June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896) was a Filipino nationalist, writer and polymath active at the end of the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines. He is considered the national he ...

(1861-1896), martyr and national hero of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, completed his ophthalmological training under Professor Louis de Wecker in Paris in 1885.

Selected writings

* ''Traité des maladies du fond de l'oeil et Atlas d'ophthalmoscopie'', 1870 with Eduard Jäger von Jaxtthal; (Treatise on maladies of the fundus of the eye and an atlas of ophthalmoscopy). * ''De l'iridotomie'', 1873 ( Iridotomy). * ''Échelle métrique pour mesurer l'acuité visuelle'', 1877 (Metric scale to measure

visual acuity Visual acuity (VA) commonly refers to the clarity of vision, but technically rates an examinee's ability to recognize small details with precision. Visual acuity is dependent on optical and neural factors, i.e. (1) the sharpness of the retinal ...

). * ''Traité complet d'ophthalmologie'', with

Edmond Landolt Jacques Rodolphe Edmund Landolt (17 May 1846 – 9 May 1926) was a Swiss ophthalmologist stationed in Paris, mostly known for a wide range of publications and his research in the field of ophthalmology. First years Edmund Landolt was born in ...

(Comprehensive treatise of ophthalmology).
"Ocular therapeutics"
translated into English in 1879. * ''Traité theorique et pratique des maladies des yeux'' (Theoretical and practical treatise on maladies of the eye). * ''Ophtalmoscopie clinique'', 1881 (Clinical ophthalmoscopy).World Cat Identities
(publications)

References

Pagel: Biographisches Lexikon
(biographical information) {{DEFAULTSORT:Wecker, Louis de Physicians from Frankfurt University of Würzburg alumni 1906 deaths 1832 births French ophthalmologists Burials at Passy Cemetery