Billroth, Albert Christian Theodor (1829-1894), a German-born surgeon, became noted for his work in pathology, wound infections, and gastrointestinal tract surgery. He wrote General Surgical Pathology and Therapeutics (1863), which went through 11 editions and was translated into many languages. Billroth discovered that bacteria caused wound infections. He performed the first surgical removal of the larynx (voice box) and developed operations on the gastrointestinal tract which still bear his name. Billroth also gained a reputation as a pianist.
Billroth was born on April 26, 1829, in Bergen, on the German island of Rugen in the Baltic Sea. He taught surgery at the University of Zurich from 1860 to 1867, when he became a professor of surgery in Vienna. He died on Feb. 6, 1894.
