Otto Ernst Küstner (26 August 1849, Trossin,

Province of Saxony The Province of Saxony (), also known as Prussian Saxony (), was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and later the Free State of Prussia from 1816 until 1944. Its capital was Magdeburg. It was formed by the merger of various territories ceded ...

– 12 May 1931) was a German

gynecologist Gynaecology or gynecology (see American and British English spelling differences) is the area of medicine concerned with conditions affecting the female reproductive system. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, which focuses on pre ...

. Initially he studied medicine in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, and during the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

was a volunteer with the ''Garde-Füsilier-Regiment''. Afterwards, he continued his studies at the

University of Halle Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (), also referred to as MLU, is a public research university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg. It is the largest and oldest university in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. MLU offers German and i ...

, obtaining his doctorate in 1873. He then furthered his education in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, later returning to Halle as an assistant in the polyclinic of Theodor Weber and also in the obstetrics institute under

Robert Michaelis von Olshausen Robert Michaelis von Olshausen (3 July 1835 – 1 February 1915) was a German obstetrician and gynecologist. He was born in Kiel and died in Berlin. He was the son of Justus Olshausen (1800–82), a professor of Oriental languages at the Univers ...

. In 1877 he received his habilitation, and shortly afterwards became an associate professor at the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The university was established in 1558 and is cou ...

(1879). In 1887 he was appointed professor of

obstetrics Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a su ...

and

gynecology Gynaecology or gynecology (see American and British English spelling differences) is the area of medicine concerned with conditions affecting the Female reproductive system, female reproductive system. It is often paired with the field of obste ...

at the

Imperial University of Dorpat The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a public research university located in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is also the largest and oldest university in the country.

, and from 1893 until his retirement in 1923 was a professor at the

University of Breslau A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

. Küstner specialized in operative gynecology and situations involving difficult

childbirth Childbirth, also known as labour, parturition and delivery, is the completion of pregnancy, where one or more Fetus, fetuses exits the Womb, internal environment of the mother via vaginal delivery or caesarean section and becomes a newborn to ...

. There are a number of medical eponyms associated with him, including an obstetrical extraction hook known as "Küstner's ''Steißhaken''". He was the author of a successful textbook on gynecology, titled "''Kurzes Lehrbuch der Gynäkologie''" (1901, 9th edition 1922).WorldCat Identities
Most widely held works by Otto Küstner

Selected written works

* ''Der abdominale Kaiserschnitt'' (The abdominal

Caesarean section Caesarean section, also known as C-section, cesarean, or caesarean delivery, is the Surgery, surgical procedure by which one or more babies are Childbirth, delivered through an incision in the mother's abdomen. It is often performed because va ...

), Wiesbaden (1915). * ''Kurzes Lehrbuch der Gynäkologie'' (Short textbook of gynecology), Jena (9th edition 1922). * ''Pathologie der Schwangerschaft'' (Pathology of

pregnancy Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring gestation, gestates inside a woman's uterus. A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Conception (biology), Conception usually occurs ...

), in: K. Baisel's Textbook of Obstetrics, Volume 2, (1924).

References

* ''Parts of this article are based on a translation of the equivalent article at the

German Wikipedia The German Wikipedia () is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia. Founded on 16 March 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia edition (after the English Wikipedia). It has articles, ma ...

'', whose references include
Biography of Otto Küstner
@ NDB/ADB Deutsche Biographie.

(translated biography) {{DEFAULTSORT:Kustner, Otto 1849 births 1931 deaths People from Nordsachsen Physicians from the Province of Saxony German gynaecologists Leipzig University alumni Academic staff of the University of Breslau Academic staff of the University of Tartu Academic staff of the University of Jena