1841-1917 · Surgeon, Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine 1909
Theodor Kocher
Bern, Switzerland
Emil Theodor Kocher (born 25 August 1841, died 27 July 1917, both in Bern) spent his career as a surgeon and professor in Bern and became best known for his treatment of goitre, developing a meticulous thyroidectomy technique, according to a 2012 history. He received the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine alone, for work on the physiology, pathology and surgery of the thyroid gland.
Milestones
Sources
NobelPrize.org. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1909 (Nobel Prize API record, api.nobelprize.org/2.1/nobelPrize/med/1909): laureate Theodor Kocher, 'for his work on the physiology, pathology and surgery of the thyroid gland'; dateAwarded 1909-10-28. Laureate record 303: born 1841-08-25, died 1917-07-27, Bern. Read 20 October 2026.
van Gijn J, Gijselhart JP. [Kocher and goitre]. Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd. 2012;156(28):A4756.
Tröhler U. Towards endocrinology: Theodor Kocher's 1883 account of the unexpected effects of total ablation of the thyroid. J R Soc Med. 2011;104(3):129-32.