In the history of medicine, Hermann Guido von Samson-Himmelstjerna is one of the names that keeps returning.
The record lists Hermann Guido von Samson-Himmelstjerna as Baltic German physician (1809-1868).
Hermann Guido von Samson-Himmelstjerna was born at Kanepi Rural Municipality in 1809. His recorded nationality is Russia. He trained at Imperial University of Dorpat and Tartu Governorate Gymnasium.
Anaesthesia, antisepsis and germ theory arrived within fifty years and made modern surgery possible for the first time.
His posts were held at Imperial University of Dorpat.
The recorded fields of work are forensic medicine, medicine and military medicine.
The test of medical work is whether practice changed, not whether the argument was elegant.
That the work was done from Russia matters: hospitals, training and research funding are unevenly distributed, and they decide which questions can be asked.
Hermann Guido von Samson-Himmelstjerna died in 1868, aged 59. What survives is the change in practice, which is how a medical life is actually measured.
Achievements
- Held posts at Imperial University of Dorpat
- Fields: forensic medicine, medicine and military medicine
