Johann Gottfried Bremser (19 August 1767 in

Wertheim am Main Wertheim (; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Wärde'') is a town in southwestern Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg with a population of around 23,400. It is located on the confluence of the rivers Tauber and Main (river), M ...

– 21 August 1827 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. ...

) was a German-Austrian

parasitologist Parasitology is the study of parasites, their hosts, and the relationship between them. As a biological discipline, the scope of parasitology is not determined by the organism or environment in question but by their way of life. This means it f ...

and

hygienist Hygiene is a set of practices performed to preserve health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "Hygiene refers to conditions and practices that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases." Personal hygiene refer ...

. In 1796 he received his medical doctorate from 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 ...

, and following graduation, took a study tour through Germany, Switzerland and Italy. In 1797 he settled in

as a physician. He developed an interest in the field of

helminthology Helminthology is the study of parasitic worms (helminths). The field studies the taxonomy of helminths and their effects on their hosts. The origin of the first compound of the word is the Greek '' ἕλμινς'' - helmins, meaning "worm". In ...

, and by way of a request from

Carl Franz Anton Ritter von Schreibers Carl Franz Anton Ritter von Schreibers (15 August 1775 – 21 May 1852) was an Austrian naturalist who was a native of Pressburg, Hungary, Habsburg Empire (today Bratislava, Slovakia). In 1847, an uncommon iron-nickel-phosphide ((Fe,Ni)3P) minera ...

, director of the ''Naturalienkabinette'' in Vienna, he started a helminth collection in around 1806, which eventually became one of the better parasitic worm collections in the world.Johann Gottfried Bremser (1767-1827) as a protagonist of the cowpox vaccine
Wien Klin Wochenschr. 2014 Apr;126 Suppl 1:S3-10. doi: 10.1007/s00508-013-0445-9. Epub 2013 Nov 19. In 1815 he conducted scientific research in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. In 1825 he succumbed to illness, and two years later died in Vienna at the age of 60. He was at the forefront of medical vaccinations in Vienna, and argued the case for compulsory

cowpox Cowpox is an infectious disease caused by Cowpox virus (CPXV). It presents with large blisters in the skin, a fever and swollen glands, historically typically following contact with an infected cow, though in the last several decades more often ...

vaccinations for all citizens.

Selected works

* ''Über die Kuhpocken'', 1801 – (On cowpox). * ''Über lebende Würmer im lebenden Menschen'', 1819 (On living worms in living humans); later translated into French and published as ''Traité zoologique et physiologique sur les vers intestinaux de l'homme'', 1824. * ''Icones helminthum systema Rudolphii entozoologicum illustrantes'', 1824.Most widely held works by Johann Gottfried Bremser
OCLC WorldCat

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bremser, Johann Gottfried 1767 births 1827 deaths People from Wertheim am Main University of Jena alumni German parasitologists Hygienists Physicians from the Austrian Empire 18th-century German physicians 18th-century Austrian physicians