Robert Heinrich Johannes Sobotta (31 January 1869, in

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 ...

– 20 April 1945, in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

) was a German

anatomist 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 ...

. He studied medicine in Berlin, where he subsequently worked as a second assistant at the institute of anatomy. From 1895 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 ...

at the institute for

comparative anatomy Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of different species. It is closely related to evolutionary biology and phylogeny (the evolution of species). The science began in the classical era, continuing in t ...

embryology Embryology (from Greek ἔμβρυον, ''embryon'', "the unborn, embryo"; and -λογία, '' -logia'') is the branch of animal biology that studies the prenatal development of gametes (sex cells), fertilization, and development of embryos and ...

and

histology Histology, also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, is the branch of biology which studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissues. Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy, which looks at larger structures vis ...

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 ...

. In 1903 he became an associate professor and in 1912 a full professor of topographical anatomy. In 1916 he relocated to the

University of Königsberg The University of Königsberg (german: Albertus-Universität Königsberg) was the university of Königsberg in East Prussia. It was founded in 1544 as the world's second Protestant academy (after the University of Marburg) by Duke Albert of Prussi ...

as director of the anatomical institute, afterwards performing similar duties at the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine U ...

(from 1919).Uni Giessen.de
(biography in German) He is remembered today for the ''Sobotta atlas of human anatomy'', a masterpiece of macroscopic anatomy acclaimed for its high quality and detail. First issued in 1904 with the title ''Atlas der deskriptiven Anatomie des Menschen'' ("Atlas of descriptive human anatomy"), it has been published in more than 300 editions in 19 languages (15 editions in English). Sobotta was also the author of ''Atlas und Grundriss der Histologie und mikroskopischen Anatomie des Menschen'' (1902), later translated into English and published as ''Textbook and atlas of human histology and microscopic anatomy''.WorldCat Identities
(publications) In 1944 he was awarded the

Goethe-Medaille für Kunst und Wissenschaft The Goethe-Medaille für Kunst und Wissenschaft (Goethe Medal for Art and Science) is a German award. It was authorized by Reichspräsident Paul von Hindenburg to commemorate the centenary of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's death on March 22, 1932. It ...

Notable publications

* 1901: ''Atlas und Grundriß der Histologie und mikroskopischen Anatomie des Menschen''. * 1904–1907: ''Atlas der descriptiven Anatomie des Menschen'' in 3 volumes. * 1904–1907: ''Grundriß der descriptiven Anatomie des Menschen''.

References

{{Germany-med-bio-stub 1869 births 1945 deaths Physicians from Berlin German anatomists University of Bonn faculty University of Königsberg faculty University of Würzburg faculty

Notable publications

See also

References