Johann Georg Steigerthal (2 February 1666,

Dirk Böttcher Dirk Böttcher (13 October 1921 – 23 January 2011) was a German printer master, author and president of the association of Friends of the Historisches Museum Hannover. Life Böttcher was born in Hanover. He passed his Abitur at the and was ...

: ', Verlag Schlütersche, Hannover 2002, S. 347, Nienburg - 27 June 1740,

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

) was a

court physician A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and administer justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law. Courts genera ...

and medical writer.

Life

Steigerthal was one of the sons of Johann Georg Steigerthal senior, a city-preacher and later superintendent of Nienburg, and his wife Catharina Ursula Wessling. He studied medicine at

Helmstedt Helmstedt (; Eastphalian: ''Helmstidde'') is a town on the eastern edge of the German state of Lower Saxony. It is the capital of the District of Helmstedt. The historic university and Hanseatic city conserves an important monumental heritage o ...

in 1684,

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

from 1688 and

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

from 1689. He graduated in 1690 and became professor of medicine at Helmstedt in 1703. He was elected a member of the

Royal Society of London The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, r ...

in 1714, the same year as the elector of Hanover became

George I of Great Britain George I (George Louis; ; 28 May 1660 – 11 June 1727) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 1 August 1714 and ruler of the Electorate of Hanover within the Holy Roman Empire from 23 January 1698 until his death in 1727. ...

. In 1715 he became court physician and personal physician to George in Hanover. Steigerthal wrote the first description of the

lithopedion A lithopedion ( also spelled lithopaedion or lithopædion; from "stone" and "small child, infant"), or stone baby, is a rare phenomenon which occurs most commonly when a fetus dies during an abdominal pregnancy, is too large to be reabsor ...

removed from Anna Mullern at Leinzell in 1720. In 1723 the President of the Royal Society

Hans Sloane Sir Hans Sloane, 1st Baronet, (16 April 1660 – 11 January 1753), was an Irish physician, naturalist, and collector. He had a collection of 71,000 items which he bequeathed to the British nation, thus providing the foundation of the British ...

sent Steigerthal (then in

Bad Pyrmont Bad Pyrmont (, also: ; West Low German: ) is a town in the district of Hamelin-Pyrmont, in Lower Saxony, Germany, with a population close to 19,000. It is located on the river Emmer (Weser), Emmer, about west of the Weser. Bad Pyrmont is a popul ...

with George I) to

Lemgo Lemgo (; ) is a university and old Hanseatic League, Hanseatic town in the Lippe district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated between the Teutoburg Forest and the Weser Uplands, 25 km east of Bielefeld and 70 km west of H ...

to buy

Engelbert Kaempfer Engelbert Kaempfer (16 September 16512 November 1716) was a German natural history, naturalist, physician, exploration, explorer, and writer known for his tour of Russia, Iran, Persia, India, Southeast Asia, and Japan between 1683 and 1693. He ...

's east Asian collection - like the rest of Sloane's collection, it later became part of the foundational deposit of the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

. In 1730 Steigerthal discovered a

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...

well in Linden, now a district of Hanover - a street has been named after him there since 1927. In 1732 Steigerthal carried out one of the first successful

vaccination Vaccination is the administration of a vaccine to help the immune system develop immunity from a disease. Vaccines contain a microorganism or virus in a weakened, live or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism. In stimulating ...

programmes in England and was also appointed to the 'Hofrat' or privy council of Hanover. http://www.arendi.de/Win-Family/per03308.htm

Works

* ''De medicamentorum noxis'', Diss. 1690 * ''De matheseos et philosophiae naturalis utilitate in arte medica oratio'', 1702 * ''De aquarum mineralium praestantia programma quod praelectionibus publicis de thermis et acidulis praemittit J. G. Steigerthal'', 1703

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steigerthal, Johann Georg 1666 births 1720 deaths People from Nienburg, Lower Saxony Johann Georg Academic staff of the University of Helmstedt 17th-century German physicians 18th-century German physicians Fellows of the Royal Society Court physicians 17th-century German writers 17th-century German male writers 18th-century German writers 18th-century German male writers