Theodor Matthes

Theodor Matthes (born July 15, 1909 in Freiberg ; † March 12, 2006 in Berlin ) was a German surgeon and oncologist . From 1965 he headed the surgery department at the Institute for Cancer Research of the German Academy of Sciences in Berlin-Buch and at the Central Institute for Cancer Research that was created in 1972 , at which he also acted as acting director from May 1973 to the end of 1974 together with Arnold Graffi . In his research, he was mainly concerned with thoracic surgery and the surgical therapy of bronchial carcinoma .

Life

Theodor Matthes was born in Freiberg in 1909 and, after attending grammar school in his hometown, studied medicine from 1930 to 1936 at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena , the University of Vienna and the Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg , where he also studied to the Dr. med. PhD . He then worked in 1937/1938 at the Freiburg Institute for Pathology under Ludwig Aschoff, as well as at the Pathological Institute and the Medical Clinic of the City Hospital in Dresden-Friedrichstadt . He then moved to the surgical clinic of the city hospital in Dresden-Johannstadt , where he later became senior physician .

At the beginning of 1950 he followed Hans Gummel , who after the Second World War initially headed a laboratory for tumor research at the children's clinic of the hospital in Johannstadt and then at the clinic for tumor diseases at the Institute for Medicine and Biology of the German Academy of Sciences in Berlin (DAW) in Berlin book was changed. At the Berlin tumor clinic, he was also employed as a senior physician and was also head of the surgical-oncological polyclinic and, from 1954, the department for thoracic surgery. In addition, he was appointed professor by the DAW in 1957 after his research achievements had been assessed as worthy of a habilitation .

From 1965 he headed the surgery department at the Institute for Cancer Research, which was created by merging the tumor clinic, named after Robert Rössle , with the Academy Institute for Experimental Cancer Research from 1959 . After Hans Gummel, who had worked as director of the clinic from 1955 and from 1972 of the Central Institute for Cancer Research, which emerged from the Institute for Cancer Research , died in May 1973, Theodor Matthes took over provisional management of the hospital together with Arnold Graffi until his retirement at the end of 1974 Central Institute. Graffi was responsible for the experimental area, while Matthes was the director of the clinic.

Theodor Matthes was married to a doctor and had three children. He died in Berlin in 2006.

Scientific and medical work

Theodor Matthes devoted himself primarily to thoracic surgery and in particular the surgical treatment of bronchial carcinoma . In the thoracic surgery department at the tumor clinic in Berlin-Buch, which he directed, more than 3,000 operations had been carried out by 1973. He also contributed to the establishment of other corresponding institutions in the German Democratic Republic (GDR), such as the Central Clinic for Lung Diseases and Tuberculosis in Bad Berka and the Research Institute for Lung Diseases and Tuberculosis in Berlin-Buch. In the field of experimental research, he was primarily concerned with the development and improvement of surgical techniques for resections , especially for bronchial carcinoma, as well as for anastomoses on the trachea , bronchi and pulmonary vessels .

From 1962 to 1965 Matthes was chairman of the East Berlin section of the Berlin Surgical Society . In addition, he acted successively as chairman of the Society for Surgery of the GDR, as president of the German Society for Clinical Medicine and as chairman of the coordination council of the medical-scientific societies of the GDR.

Awards

In the GDR, Theodor Matthes received the honorary title of Senior Medical Officer and Honored Doctor of the People and the Patriotic Order of Merit in three stages. The Berlin Surgical Society made him an honorary member in 1974.

Works (selection)

• 25 years of cancer research at the research center of the Academy of Sciences of the GDR in Berlin-Buch. Berlin 1974
• Basics of neutron therapy. Berlin 1975 (as co-editor)
• Selected contributions to the diagnosis of malignant tumors. Berlin 1976 (as co-editor)
• The medical-scientific societies of the GDR. History, function and tasks. Second edition 1981.

literature

• Wilfrid Seifart: Obituary for Prof. Dr. Theodor Matthes. In: German Society for Surgery - Communications. 3/2006. Published on behalf of the German Society for Surgery by Georg Thieme Verlag, pp. 245–247, ISSN  0723-709X