Robert Gersuny

Robert Gersuny (1844 to 1924) was an Austrian surgeon, born in Teplitz in Bohemia, the second child of a balneologist who also practised surgery, obstetrics, internal medicine and dentistry. He studied medicine at Charles University in Prague and graduated in 1866, then joined Theodor Billroth at the Second Surgical University Clinic in Vienna in 1869, beginning a lifelong friendship. He accompanied Billroth on consulting journeys, served as chief surgeon of the Karolinen children's hospital from 1880 to 1893, and directed the Rudolfinerhaus hospital in Vienna after Billroth's death until his own. He is known chiefly for plastic surgery, notably the injection of paraffin and vaseline, which gave disastrous results in some of the earliest attempts at breast augmentation. He also wrote on the relation of doctor and patient and on medical specialisation.