Carl Caspar von Siebold

Carl Caspar von Siebold (4 November 1736 to 3 April 1807) was a German surgeon and obstetrician, a native of Nideggen in the Duchy of Jülich. He studied medicine in Würzburg from 1760 to 1763 and then continued his training in Paris, London and Leiden. In 1769 he became professor of anatomy, surgery and obstetrics at the University of Würzburg, a post he held until his death. In 1776 he was appointed head physician (Oberwundarzt) of the Juliusspital in Würzburg, where under his leadership new surgical techniques were introduced, a regimen of hygiene was established and the Theatrum Anatomicum was renovated; by 1805 the hospital reportedly had the first modern operating room in the world. His students included Franz Kaspar Hesselbach, Johann Friedrich Meckel and Nicolaus Anton Friedreich, and he was the grandfather of the naturalist Philipp Franz von Siebold.