The American Cyclopædia (1879)/Rokitansky, Karl

ROKITANSKY, Karl, a German physician, born in Königgratz, Bohemia, Feb. 19, 1804. He studied medicine at Prague and at Vienna, where in 1828 he became assistant to the pathological and anatomical establishment. In 1834 he became extraordinary and in 1844 ordinary professor of pathological anatomy, in 1848 honorary rector of the university of Prague and member of the Vienna academy of sciences, in 1849 dean of the medical faculty, and in 1850 rector of the university of Vienna. He resigned his professorship in 1874. He was the projector of the great hospital of Vienna. He is considered in Germany as the highest authority in anatomy and pathology. His principal work is Handbuch der pathologischen Anatomie (3 vols., Vienna, 1842-'6; English translation by the Sydenham society, 4 vols., London, 1845-'52), entirely recast under the title of Lehrbuch der pathologischen Anatomie (3 vols., 1851-'61).