Johann Leberecht Schmucker

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Johann Leberecht Schmucker
( etching from the 18th century)
“ Perceptions from Wundarzney Art ” by JL Schmucker

Johann Leberecht / Lebrecht Schmucker (* 1712 in Magdeburg ; † March 5, 1786 in Berlin ) was a royal Prussian military doctor , surgeon and specialist book author . He was Frederick the Great's personal physician .

family

Schmucker married Anna Katharina Kramer on May 5, 1740 . The marriage remained childless.

Life

Schmucker enjoyed a solid education and passed his exam at the “ Collegium Medico Chirurgicum ” in Berlin . After graduation, he worked as a regimental surgeon in the Great Grenadier - Guard .

In June 1737 he was sent to Paris by Friedrich Wilhelm I for two years . At the “ Académie royale de Chirurgie ” (1731–1793), among others, Henry François Le Dran (1685–1770), with whom he was friends until his death, and Jean-Louis Petit (1674–1750) were his teachers. Through LeDran's mediation, Schmucker operated on his first patient on stone in Paris in front of a select audience. As Schmucker 1739 returned to Berlin, he served in the regiment von Sydow as a regimental surgeon.

Schmucker developed a nutritional powder ( Poudre d´Aliment ) invented in France and tested it on an officer and three grenadiers under real conditions. Frederick the Great was so pleased that he appointed Schmucker as the army's first general surgeon .

During the Seven Years' War , Schmucker was the first general surgeon to head the Prussian medical system and was responsible for the field hospitals . Since his main focus was on the treatment of head injuries, he set up a separate hospital for these wounded during the siege of Schweidnitz (1762) . He published the observations he made there in his work " Surgical Perceptions ".

Schmucker took part in almost all battles of the three Silesian Wars and in the War of the Bavarian Succession he was responsible for setting up the field hospitals.

Schmucker had a large practice in Berlin and was head of the Charité until his death on March 5, 1786 . Johann Christian Anton Theden (1714–1797) was succeeded in office there after Schmucker's death in 1786 .

His work

Schmucker made an innovation in the treatment of inflamed wounds: He used cold water compresses ( Formentia frigida ) soaked with wine vinegar , saltpeter and salmiac . His successor Theden later developed this treatment method further. He also refined the surgical instruments, which were far too large at the time.

During his life, Schmucker was a strict opponent of hastily performed amputations . But since these were often unavoidable in the field, he had the field scissors / surgeons make small curved saws that they should carry with them in small pockets.

The philosopher Immanuel Kant wrote in a letter on January 18, 1766: “ Mr. Schmucker (: This is the name of the person who oversees my linckes :) turns all the effort into getting the so-called hardened barley grain away, he seems to succeed too, me I look forward to the day of my departure with impatience, and I shouldn't lack the courage to travel alone to complete the end of my travel description. "

Honors

  • On September 9, 1774, Schmucker was elected a member of the " Roman Imperial Academy for Natural Scientists " (today Leopoldina , then still in Schweinfurt , today in Halle (Saale) ).

Memberships

  • Imperial Leopoldine-Carolinian German Academy of Sciences (today: Leopoldina )

bibliography

  • Surgical perceptions , 2 volumes, Berlin and Stettin 1774 and 1789
  • Heelkundige Waarneemingen , P. van der Eyk publishing house, Leiden (Netherlands) 1775
  • Mixed Surgical Writings , ed. by Johann Leberecht Schmucker, Verlag Nicolai, Berlin and Stettin at least 1776–1782; - Reprint: Book printing and bookstore Gegel, Frankenthal 1784–1788
  • Perceptions from the Wundarzneykunst , Volume 1: From the injuries and diseases of the head; Volume 2: Of wounds and diseases of the chest, abdomen and the other limbs; Johann Baptista Wiesen printing house, Heidelberg 1784.

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Schmucker, Johann Leberecht
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schmucker, Johann Lebrecht
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian military doctor, surgeon and specialist book author
DATE OF BIRTH 1712
PLACE OF BIRTH Magdeburg
DATE OF DEATH March 5, 1786
Place of death Berlin