Billroth, Christian Albert Theodor (1829–1894)

German surgeon. He was a pioneer in the surgery of the stomach and intestines, and was the first to perform a gastrectomy (surgical removal of all or part of the stomach). He was also an advocate of the English surgeon Joseph Lister's antiseptic method and made valuable contributions to the study of wound infection.

Billroth was born at Bergen, on the island of Rügen, and graduated from Berlin in 1852. In 1860 he became professor of surgery at Zürich, Switzerland, and seven years later at Vienna, Austria. His Allgemeine chirurgische Pathologie und Therapie was published in 1863.

During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71 he served voluntarily with military hospitals and his work, together with a famous speech on the war budget, helped to improve the transport and treatment of the wounded.