Georg Friedrich Louis Stromeyer (6 March 1804 – 15 June 1876) was a German

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 was born and died in

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 ...

. He was the son of surgeon Christian Friedrich Stromeyer (1761–1824).aerzteblatt.de
Georg Friedrich Louis Stromeyer (translated biography)

Biography

From 1823, Stromeyer studied medicine at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

, receiving his doctorate in Berlin in 1826. In Göttingen he joined the German student Corps Hannovera. After graduation he undertook scientific travels throughout Europe, returning to Hanover in 1828, where he taught classes at the surgical school and founded an

orthopedic Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternative spelling orthopaedics) is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...

institute. From 1838 to 1840 he was a professor of surgery at the

University of Erlangen A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

, followed by professorships at

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

(1841–42),

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

(1842–48) and

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

. During his career Stromeyer was

Surgeon General Surgeon general (: surgeons general) is a title used in several Commonwealth countries and most NATO nations to refer either to a senior military medical officer or to a senior uniformed physician commissioned by the government and entrusted with p ...

of the Schleswig-Holstein and Hanoverian armies. 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 ...

he served as ''Consultierender Generalarzt'' at the

Battle of Sedan The Battle of Sedan was fought during the Franco-Prussian War from 1 to 2 September 1870. Resulting in the capture of Napoleon III, Emperor Napoleon III and over a hundred thousand troops, it effectively decided the war in favour of Prussia and ...

Stromeyer was a pioneer in

orthopedics Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics (American and British English spelling differences, alternative spelling orthopaedics) is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgic ...

and

orthopedic surgery Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternative spelling orthopaedics) is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...

. In 1831 he performed the first subcutaneous

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 "Achillotenotom ...

(tendon surgery) of the

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcane ...

on a deformed foot. He introduced tenotomic surgery to England through a friend, English surgeon

William John Little William John Little (1810–1894) was an English surgeon who is credited with the first medical identification of spastic diplegia, when he observed it in the 1860s amongst children. While spasticity surely existed before that point, Little was ...

(1810–1894). Stromeyer performed the operation on Dr. Little in order to correct a

clubfoot Clubfoot is a congenital or acquired defect where one or both feet are rotated inward and downward. Congenital clubfoot is the most common congenital malformation of the foot with an incidence of 1 per 1000 births. In approximately 50% of ca ...

condition. Stromeyer was also a practitioner of

maxillofacial Oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS) is a surgical specialty focusing on reconstructive surgery of the face, facial trauma surgery, the mouth, head and neck, and jaws, as well as facial plastic surgery including cleft lip and cleft palate s ...

surgery, being remembered for the eponymous "Stromeyer hook", a device used for

zygomatic arch In anatomy, the zygomatic arch (colloquially known as the cheek bone), is a part of the skull formed by the zygomatic process of temporal bone, zygomatic process of the temporal bone (a bone extending forward from the side of the skull, over the ...

fractures. He was elected as a member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

in 1862. His daughter

Helene Marie Stromeyer Helene Marie Stromeyer (26 August 1834 – 13 March 1924) was a German painter known for her floral and landscape paintings. Biography Stromeyer was born on 26 August 1834 in Hanover. The surgeon Louis Stromeyer was her father. In the 1880s she ...

became a known painter.

Works

* ''Beiträge zur operativen Orthopädik; oder, Erfahrungen über die subcutane Durchschneidung verkürzter Muskeln und deren Sehnen'', 1838. * ''Handbuch der Chirurgie'', 1844. * ''Maximen der Kriegsheilkunst'', 1855. * "Gunshot fractures"; (published in English);

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Lippincott, 1862. * ''Erinnerungen eines deutschen Arztes'', two volumes, 1875,

Sources

WorldCat Identities
publications {{DEFAULTSORT:Stromeyer, Louis Physicians from Hanover People from the Kingdom of Hanover German orthopedic surgeons Stromeyer (1846) University of Göttingen alumni Academic staff of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg German military doctors Academic staff of the University of Freiburg Academic staff of the University of Kiel Academic staff of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich 1804 births 1876 deaths