He studied medicine in Prague, earning his degree in obstetrics in 1799 and a doctorate in surgery in 1800. Afterwards he worked briefly in Vienna and Paris, and later taught classes at the Lyceum in Olomouc. From 1803 to 1810 he was a professor of surgery at the University of Kraków, where he established a local surgical clinic. In 1810 he was named chief surgeon at the Allgemeines Krankenhaus in Vienna.[1]
In 1815 he became a member of the Prussian military as a physician. The following year he became director of the new surgical/ophthalmological clinic at the Charité, as well as adjunct professor at the medical-surgical military academy in Berlin. In 1822 he was awarded with the military title of Generalstabsarzt (Surgeon General), and in 1824 became a full professor at the University of Berlin. In 1834, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. In 1837 he was appointed director of surgical and pharmaceutical studies at the university.[1]
Among his literary works was a highly acclaimed multi-volume textbook on surgery titled "Theoretisch-praktisches Handbuch der Chirurgie, mit Einschluss der syphilitischen und Augen-Krankheiten" (1830–1836).[2] In 1816 he became editor of the "Magazins für die gesammte Heilkunde".[1] Towards the end of his career, he suffered from failing eyesight, and consequently most of his later surgical operations were performed by Johann Friedrich Dieffenbach (1792–1847).[3] He died in 1840 on his estate Schloss Kleutsch [today: Kluczowa] near Ząbkowice Śląskie in Silesia, Prussia.[4]
