Hermann Pagenstecher

Personal

Vocation

Traits

German ophthalmologist remembered for advancing the pioneer work of his brother, Alexander Pagenstecher (1828-1879), regarding intracapsular cataract extraction. He described this in the monograph Die Operation des grauen Stars in geschlossener Kapsel. With Carl Genth (1844-1904), he was co-author of Atlas der pathologischen Anatomie des Augapfels (Atlas of the Pathological Anatomy of the Eyeball), a book that was later translated into English by neurologist William Richard Gowers (1845-1915). In 1867 he obtained his doctorate from the University of Würzburg, and shortly afterwards was an assistant at the internal medicine clinic in Greifswald (1867-68). Later he studied with ophthalmologist Albrecht von Graefe (1828-1870) in Berlin, then subsequently took an extended scientific trip to London, Edinburgh and Paris. After returning to Germany, he worked with his older brother at the latter's eye clinic in Wiesbaden. After the untimely death of his brother in 1879, he took charge of the Wiesbaden eye clinic. In 1890 he became a professor of ophthalmology. On 7 May 1899 he visited Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle to examine her eyesight. Pagenstecher died on 31 December 1932, aged 88. Link to Wikipedia biography