Johann Christian Stark (the Elder)

Johann Christian Stark the Elder was a German physician and obstetrician, born at Oßmannstedt in 1753 and died in 1811. He took his doctorate at the University of Jena in 1777 and became an associate professor there in 1779, directing a health institute and serving as subdirector of the maternity hospital services. He was known as an outstanding clinical teacher, and one of his better known students was Adam Elias von Siebold. He served as physician to the ducal court at Weimar, including Anna Amalia and Carl August, and was also the doctor of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller. In 1787 he became editor of the first obstetric and gynecological journal, the Archiv für Geburtshilfe, Frauenzimmer und Neugeborener Kinder Krankheiten. He also published on pharmacology and pediatrics, wrote a treatise on the history of tetanus, and is credited with modifying a number of obstetrical instruments and devices. His nephew of the same name, born in 1769, was also a noted obstetrician.