Emil Theodor Kocher
surgeon, laureate of the 1909 Nobel Prize in Medicine (1841-1917)
Emil Theodor Kocher (25 August 1841 – 27 July 1917) was a Swiss physician and medical researcher who received the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work in the physiology, pathology and surgery of the thyroid. Among his many accomplishments are the introduction and promotion of aseptic surgery and scientific methods in surgery, specifically reducing the mortality of thyroidectomies below 1% in his operations.
Kocher was the first Swiss citizen and first surgeon to ever receive a Nobel Prize in Medicine. He was considered a pioneer and leader in the field of surgery in his time.
Early life and personal life
Childhood
Kocher's father was Jakob Alexander Kocher (1814–1893), the sixth of seven children to Samuel Kocher (1771–1842), a carpenter, and Barbara Sutter (1772–1849). Jakob Alexander Kocher was a railway engineer and he moved in 1845 to Burgdorf, Switzerland (near Bern), because of his job as regional engineer of Emmental (Bezirksingenieur). He was named chief engineer for street and water in the canton of Bern at the age of 34 years and he moved with his family to the capital, the city of Bern. In 1858 he left the states service and managed several engineering projects around Bern.
Theodor Kocher's mother was Maria Kocher (née Wermuth) living from 1820 to 1900. She was a very religious woman and part of the Moravian Church; together with Jakob Alexander, she raised a family of five sons and one daughter (Theodor Kocher was the second son).
“Emil Theodor Kocher” enters the record as surgeon, laureate of the 1909 Nobel Prize in Medicine (1841-1917). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Emil, Theodor and Kocher can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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