Johann Friedrich Dieffenbach (1 February 1792 – 11 November 1847) was a German

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

. He was born in

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was ...

and died 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 constitu ...

. Dieffenbach specialized in skin transplantation and

plastic surgery Plastic surgery is a surgical specialty involving the restoration, reconstruction or alteration of the human body. It can be divided into two main categories: reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery. Reconstructive surgery includes cranio ...

. His work in rhinoplastic and maxillofacial surgery established many modern techniques of

reconstructive surgery Reconstructive surgery is surgery performed to restore normal appearance and function to body parts malformed by a disease or medical condition. Description Reconstructive surgery is a term with training, clinical, and reimbursement implicat ...

. His endeavours comprehended subcutaneous operations such as

tenotomy A tenotomy is a surgical act which involves the division of a tendon. It and related procedures are also referred to as tendon release, tendon lengthening, and heel-cord release. When it involves the Achilles tendon, it is called "Achillotenotomy ...

, the surgical division of a

tendon A tendon or sinew is a tough, high-tensile-strength band of dense fibrous connective tissue that connects muscle to bone. It is able to transmit the mechanical forces of muscle contraction to the skeletal system without sacrificing its ability ...

. Before the discovery of blood typing and blood matching, Dr. Dieffenbach researched

blood transfusion Blood transfusion is the process of transferring blood products into a person's circulation intravenously. Transfusions are used for various medical conditions to replace lost components of the blood. Early transfusions used whole blood, but mo ...

, about which he published ''Die Transfusion des Blutes und die Infusion der Arzneien in die Blutgefässe'' (1828). In 1839, Dieffenbach performed the first successful myotomy for the treatment of

strabismus Strabismus is a vision disorder in which the eyes do not properly align with each other when looking at an object. The eye that is focused on an object can alternate. The condition may be present occasionally or constantly. If present during a ...

on a seven-year-old boy with

esotropia Esotropia is a form of strabismus in which one or both eyes turns inward. The condition can be constantly present, or occur intermittently, and can give the affected individual a "cross-eyed" appearance. It is the opposite of exotropia and usual ...

. Originally, the student J.F. Dieffenbach studied

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...

at the universities at

Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state ...

and

Greifswald Greifswald (), officially the University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald (german: Universitäts- und Hansestadt Greifswald, Low German: ''Griepswoold'') is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rosto ...

. From 1813 to 1815, he volunteered as a soldier in the '' Befreiungskriege'' (Napoleonic Wars) as a Jäger. From 1816 to 1820 he studied medicine at the University of Königsberg, then relocated to

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-Ru ...

as an assistant to Philipp Franz von Walther. Following visits to

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. Si ...

and

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the department of Hérault. In 2018, 290,053 people l ...

, he received his doctorate at the

University of Würzburg The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. The University of Würzburg is one of ...

in 1822. Afterwards, he settled in Berlin, where he focused his attention on plastic and reconstructive surgery. In 1824, he married Johanna Motherby. In 1832, he became an associate professor at the university of Berlin, and in 1840 became director of the Clinical Institute for Surgery at

Charité The Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Charité – Berlin University of Medicine) is one of Europe's largest university hospitals, affiliated with Humboldt University and Free University Berlin. With numerous Collaborative Research C ...

Hospital. After his death in 1847,

Bernhard von Langenbeck Bernhard Rudolf Konrad von Langenbeck (9 November 181029 September 1887) was a German surgeon known as the developer of Langenbeck's amputation and founder of '' Langenbeck's Archives of Surgery''. Life He was born at Padingbüttel, and rec ...

(1810–1887) replaced Dieffenbach as director of surgery.

Dieffenbach Medal (Dieffenbach-Medaille)

Awarded by the Vereinigung der Deutschen Plastischen Chirurgen (Association of German Plastic Surgeons), the Dieffenbach Medal was created by artist Fritz Becker. It was awarded for the first time in 1989 during the 20th annual meeting.Dieffenbach-Preisträger und -Vorlesungen Accessed 20 May 2011.

Notes

References

''Johann Friedrich Dieffenbach''
@

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 ...

1792 births 1847 deaths German military personnel of the Napoleonic Wars German maxillofacial surgeons Physicians from Königsberg University of Rostock alumni University of Greifswald alumni University of Königsberg alumni University of Würzburg faculty Humboldt University of Berlin faculty Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class) Physicians of the Charité {{Germany-med-bio-stub