Hyrtl, Joseph (1810-1894)

Austrian anatomist who, in part, was responsible for the success of the New Vienna School of Medicine in the 19th century. He was the most popular and successful teacher of anatomy in Europe. His textbooks of general anatomy were widely used including his seminal work The Handbook of Topographical Anatomy 1845. He is also the author of scholarly works on anatomical terminology and on Hebrew and Arabic elements of anatomy.

After studying medicine in Vienna, Hyrtl was appointed professor of anatomy at the Medical School in Prague at the relatively young age of 27. He returned to a similar post in Vienna seven years later and became an influential man in the establishment of new procedures for teaching human anatomy.