Carl Alois Philipp Garrè (12 December 1857, Ragaz – 6 March 1928) was a Swiss

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

. He proved that

Staphylococcus aureus ''Staphylococcus aureus'' is a Gram-positive spherically shaped bacterium, a member of the Bacillota, and is a usual member of the microbiota of the body, frequently found in the upper respiratory tract and on the skin. It is often posi ...

causes carbuncles and

boil A boil, also called a furuncle, is a deep folliculitis, which is an infection of the hair follicle. It is most commonly caused by infection by the bacterium ''Staphylococcus aureus'', resulting in a painful swollen area on the skin caused by ...

s by experimenting on himself and had one condition named after himself,

Garre's sclerosing osteomyelitis Garre's sclerosing osteomyelitis is a type of chronic osteomyelitis also called periostitis ossificans and Garré's sclerosing osteomyelitis. It is a rare disease. It mainly affects children and young adults. It is associated with a low grade inf ...

( sclerosing osteitis – form of chronic

osteomyelitis Osteomyelitis (OM) is the infectious inflammation of bone marrow. Symptoms may include pain in a specific bone with overlying redness, fever, and weakness. The feet, spine, and hips are the most commonly involved bones in adults. The cause is ...

with proliferative periostitis). He was a student of

Robert Koch Heinrich Hermann Robert Koch ( ; ; 11 December 1843 – 27 May 1910) was a German physician and microbiologist. As the discoverer of the specific causative agents of deadly infectious diseases including tuberculosis, cholera and anthrax, he i ...

and Theodor Kocher. He studied medicine at the Universities of

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 ...

and

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 ...

, earning his doctorate in 1883. From 1884 he was an assistant to surgeon August Socin (1837–1899) at the

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis''; German: ''Universität Basel'') is a public research university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest univ ...

, where in 1886 he became

privat-docent ''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualifi ...

for surgery and

bacteriology Bacteriology is the branch and specialty of biology that studies the Morphology (biology), morphology, ecology, genetics and biochemistry of bacteria as well as many other aspects related to them. This subdivision of microbiology involves the iden ...

. In 1889 he became an associate professor of surgery at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...

. From 1894 he was a full professor of surgery at several universities, including the Universities of

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

(1894–1901) and

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

(1907–1926). He died in

Puerto de la Cruz Puerto de la Cruz is a city and municipality in the northern part of the island of Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. It was formerly known by its English translation, "Port of the Cross", although now it is known by its Spanish name in all langu ...

Tenerife Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...

on March 6, 1928.Catalogus Professorum Rostocheinsium
. uni-rostock.de

Selected writings

* ''Grundriss der Lungenchirurgie'' (Outline of

lung The lungs are the primary Organ (biology), organs of the respiratory system in many animals, including humans. In mammals and most other tetrapods, two lungs are located near the Vertebral column, backbone on either side of the heart. Their ...

surgery) 1903, with Heinrich Irenaeus Quincke (1842–1922). * ''Lehrbuch der Chirurgie'' (Textbook of surgery) 1920, with August Borchard (1864–1940).

References

1857 births 1928 deaths Swiss surgeons People from St. Gallen (city) Academic staff of the University of Rostock Academic staff of the University of Bonn Academic staff of the University of Tübingen {{Switzerland-med-bio-stub