Carl von Voit belongs to the medical record as a figure whose work changed what could be treated.
The record lists Carl von Voit as German physiologist and nutritionist (1831-1908).
Carl von Voit was born at Amberg in 1831. His recorded nationality is Kingdom of Bavaria. He trained at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München.
Anaesthesia, antisepsis and germ theory arrived within fifty years and made modern surgery possible for the first time.
His posts were held at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München.
The recorded fields of work are nutritional science.
His principal contribution is On the Digestibility of Vegetable and Animal Foods. Medicine advances against a moving target, and its successes are counted in lives rather than papers.
Recognition followed: Commander of the Bavarian Military Order of Merit, Knight Second Class of the Order of Merit of St Michael (Bavaria) and Knight First Class of the Order of Merit of St Michael (Bavaria).
That the work was done from Kingdom of Bavaria matters: hospitals, training and research funding are unevenly distributed, and they decide which questions can be asked.
Carl von Voit died in 1908, aged 77. What survives is the change in practice, which is how a medical life is actually measured.
Achievements
- Commander of the Bavarian Military Order of Merit
- Knight Second Class of the Order of Merit of St Michael (Bavaria)
- Knight First Class of the Order of Merit of St Michael (Bavaria)
- Notable work: On the Digestibility of Vegetable and Animal Foods
- Held posts at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
- Fields: nutritional science
