born Feb. 19, 1804, Königgrätz, Austria
died July 23, 1878, Vienna
Austrian pathologist.
He inspired Ignaz Semmelweis to study medicine and supported his use of antiseptic procedures to eliminate puerperal fever. Rokitansky was the first to detect bacteria in malignant endocarditis and to describe spondylolisthesis (forward displacement of one vertebra over another). He differentiated pneumonias originating in lobes of the lung and in bronchioles, made a fundamental study of acute yellow atrophy of the liver, and established the micropathology of emphysema. His Treatise of Pathological Anatomy (3 vol., 184246) elevated pathology to an established science. During his career he performed more than 30,000 autopsies.