Lister, Joseph (1827–1912)

English surgeon. He was the founder of antiseptic surgery, influenced by Louis Pasteur's work on bacteria. He introduced dressings soaked in carbolic acid and strict rules of hygiene to combat wound sepsis in hospitals. He was made a baronet in 1883, and a baron in 1897.

The number of surgical operations greatly increased following the introduction of anaesthetics, but death rates were more than 40%. Under Lister's regime they fell dramatically.

Lister was born in Upton, Essex, and studied at University College, London. He was professor of surgery at Glasgow 1860–69, at Edinburgh 1869–77, and at King's College, London 1877–92. In 1891 he became chair of the newly formed British Institute of Preventive Medicine (later the Lister Institute).

Sepsis was at this time thought to be a kind of combustion caused by exposing moist body tissues to oxygen. Learning of Pasteur's discovery of micro-organisms, however, Lister began to use carbolic acid as a disinfectant. In 1867 he announced that his wards in the Glasgow Royal Infirmary had remained clear of sepsis for nine months. Later he adopted the method developed by Robert Koch in Germany of using steam to sterilize surgical instruments and dressings.