Maurice Edmond Müller (28 March 1918 – 10 May 2009Zentrum Paul Klee:
Press release 2009-05-12
''. In German. URL last accessed 2009-05-13.) was a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

orthopedic surgeon Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics (American and British English spelling differences, alternative spelling orthopaedics) is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgic ...

who was instrumental in the development of

internal fixation Internal fixation is an Surgery, operation in orthopedics that involves the surgical implementation of Implant (medicine), implants for the purpose of repairing a bone, a concept that dates to the mid-nineteenth century and was made applicable fo ...

techniques to treat

bone fracture A bone fracture (abbreviated FRX or Fx, Fx, or #) is a medical condition in which there is a partial or complete break in the continuity of any bone in the body. In more severe cases, the bone may be broken into several fragments, known as a ''c ...

s and who also significantly advanced the development of the hip prostheses. For his work in these areas he has been honored with numerous awards. On 24 August 2002,Soiron, R.:
Lebenswerke: In honorem der Stifter Maurice und Martha Müller-Lüthi
'. In German. URL last accessed 2009-05-13. the International Society of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology (SICOT) named him the "Orthopedic Surgeon of the Century" at a congress in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

.Zentrum Paul Klee:
The Müller founder family
''. URL last accessed 2009-05-13. Müller was also the patron who founded the

Zentrum Paul Klee The Zentrum Paul Klee is a museum dedicated to the artist Paul Klee, located in Bern, Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the sou ...

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

, Switzerland.

Early life and education

Müller was born in

Biel Biel/Bienne (official bilingual wording; German language, German: ''Biel'' ; French language, French: ''Bienne'' ; Bernese German, locally ; ; ; ) is a bilingual city in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. With over 55,000 residents, it is the ...

, Switzerland, where he also went to school.Mäder, F.:
Dies academicus 1998: Maurice E. Müller, Ehrendoktor der Medizinischen Fakultät
', April 29, 1998. In German. URL last accessed 2009-05-13. He studied

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

at the universities of

Neuchâtel Neuchâtel (, ; ; ) is a list of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital (political), capital of the cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Neuchâtel (canton), Neuchâtel on Lake Neuchâtel ...

, and

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

and received his

M.D. A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of physician. This ge ...

from the

University of Zürich The University of Zurich (UZH, ) is a public university, public research university in Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of the ...

in 1946. In 1944, he was visited by a patient who had a bone fracture treated in World War II by the German surgeon Gerhard Küntscher, who had fixed the fracture using an implanted nail. This and another visit by a patient who had a hip implant made in Paris determined Müller to specialize in this area.

Career

After having worked in

Jimma Jimma () is the largest city in southwestern Oromia Region, Ethiopia. It is a special zone of the Oromia Region and is surrounded by Jimma Zone. It has a latitude and longitude of . Prior to the 2007 census, Jimma was reorganized administrativ ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

, in

Liestal Liestal (, Standard ), formerly spelled Liesthal, is the capital of Liestal District and the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Basel-Landschaft in Switzerland, south of Basel. Liestal is an industrial town with a Cobbled street, cobbled-street ...

, in

Fribourg or is the capital of the Cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Canton of Fribourg, Fribourg and district of Sarine (district), La Sarine. Located on both sides of the river Saane/Sarine, on the Swiss Plateau, it is a major economic, adminis ...

, and in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, Müller

habilitated Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellen ...

in orthopedic surgery in 1957. From 1960 on he led the department of orthopedics and traumatology at the hospital of St. Gallen. From 1963 to 1980 he was professor at the

University of Bern The University of Bern (, , ) is a public university, public research university in the Switzerland, Swiss capital of Bern. It was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the canton of Bern. It is a comprehensive university offering a br ...

and head of orthopedic surgery at the

Inselspital The Inselspital, also named the University Hospital of Bern (German: ''Universitätsspital Bern''), located in Bern, is one of the five university hospitals of Switzerland. It is associated with the University of Bern. The hospital is operated ...

in Bern. In 1958, Müller co-founded the

Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Osteosynthesefragen The AO Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the care of patients with musculoskeletal injuries or pathologies and their sequelae through research, development, and education of surgeons and operating room personnel. The AO ...

.AO Foundation:
History
'. URL last accessed 2009-05-13. Inspired by the work of Belgian surgeon Robert Danis, Müller developed within two years new tools and fixation implants for orthopedic surgery,AO Foundation:
Maurice E. Müller RIP
', May 11, 2009. URL last accessed 2009-05-13. marketed by two Swiss companies and from the mid-1970 on also by Synthes USA. Since 2004, all three companies are part of the Synthes Holding AG.Christ, S., Schnyder, S.:
Ein Pionier mit vielen Facetten
', obituary in the ''

Berner Zeitung ''Berner Zeitung'' (literally: "Journal of Bern"), also branded as ''BZ'', is a Swiss German-language daily newspaper, published by Tamedia in Bern. History and profile ''Berner Zeitung'' was first issued on 3 January 1979. Four different pape ...

'' of May 13, 2009. In German. URL last accessed 2009-05-13. In 1967, Müller founded another company, Protek AG, to market his hip prostheses, which he had developed in the early 1960s, inspired by the work of

John Charnley Sir John Charnley, (29 August 1911 – 5 August 1982) was an English Orthopedic surgery, orthopaedic surgeon. He pioneered the hip replacement operation, which is now one of the most common operations both in the UK and elsewhere in the wo ...

. From 1974 on, profits went to the Maurice E. Müller foundation, the first of several foundations Müller founded to advance the education and research in orthopedic surgery. In 1990, the company was sold to

Sulzer Medica Sulzer may refer to: People * Alain Claude Sulzer (born 1953), Swiss writer and translator * Alexander Sulzer (born 1984), German ice hockey player * Charles August Sulzer, delegate to the United States House of Representatives from the Territory ...

(which since then has become an independent spin-off from the Sulzer mother company and which later became part of Zimmer, Inc. under the name of Centerpulse).

Zentrum Paul Klee

Müller was also the patron who founded the

, Switzerland. He developed the initial ideas for the museum, contacted architect

Renzo Piano Renzo Piano (; born 14 September 1937) is an Italian architect. His notable works include the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris (with Richard Rogers, 1977), The Shard in London (2012), Kansai International Airport in Osaka (1994), the Whitney ...

for its realization,Zentrum Paul Klee:
1990-2006
''. URL last accessed 2009-05-13. and donated through a foundation formed for this purpose 70 million

Swiss franc The Swiss franc, or simply the franc, is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It is also legal tender in the Italian exclave of Campione d'Italia which is surrounded by Swiss territory. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) iss ...

s (more than half of the total cost of CHF 125 millionZentrum Paul Klee:
Maurice E. and Martha Müller Foundation
''. URL last accessed 2009-05-13.) for the construction of the museum. Müller died on 10 May 2009 in Bern.20min:
Chirurg und Klee-Zentrum-Gründer Maurice E. Müller gestorben
'', May 12, 2009. Source: AP. In German. URL last accessed 2009-05-13.

Works

* M. E. Müller ''et al.'': ''Manual of Internal Fixation'', AO-ASIF, 1980. (3rd ed., 1995). * M. E. Müller ''et al.'': ''The Comprehensive Classification of Fractures of Long Bones'', Springer 1994. .

References

External links

Curriculum vitae
*Jakob, B.; Moser, M.:
Maurice E. Müller ist verstorben
', uniaktuell; May 12, 2009. University of Bern.

An interview with Maurice E. Müller
covering some details of his prosthetics achievements. *Ganz, R.:
Prof. Maurice E. Müller wird 90 Jahre alt
', Inselspital Bern, March 26, 2008. In German.
Annual statement from 2002 of the ''Fondation Maurice E. Müller''
with an image of the "Orthopedic surgeon of the (20th) Century" award plaque and the text of the laudatio in the annex, on pages 20–21. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mueller, Maurice Edmond 1918 births 2009 deaths Swiss orthopedic surgeons People associated with the University of Zurich People from Biel/Bienne 20th-century surgeons