Gustav von Bunge belongs to the medical record as a figure whose work changed what could be treated.
The record lists Gustav von Bunge as Baltic German physiologist (1844-1920).
Gustav von Bunge was born at Tartu in 1844. His recorded nationality is Russia. He trained at Leipzig University and Imperial University of Dorpat.
Anaesthesia, antisepsis and germ theory arrived within fifty years and made modern surgery possible for the first time.
His posts were held at University of Basel.
The recorded fields of work are physiology.
Medicine advances against a moving target, and its successes are counted in lives rather than papers.
That the work was done from Russia matters: hospitals, training and research funding are unevenly distributed, and they decide which questions can be asked.
Gustav von Bunge died in 1920, aged 76. What survives is the change in practice, which is how a medical life is actually measured.
Achievements
- Held posts at University of Basel
- Fields: physiology
