Karl Kaspar von Siebold (November 4, 1736 – April 3, 1807) was a German surgeon

Surgeon

In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...

 and obstetrician who was a native of Nideggen

Nideggen

Nideggen is a town in the district of Düren in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the river Rur, in the Eifel hills, approx. 15 km south of Düren....

. From 1760 to 1763 he studied medicine in Würzburg

Würzburg

Würzburg is a city in the region of Franconia which lies in the northern tip of Bavaria, Germany. Located at the Main River, it is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. The regional dialect is Franconian....

, and afterwards furthered his medical education in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 and Leiden. In 1769 he became a professor of anatomy

Anatomy

Anatomy is a branch of biology and medicine that is the consideration of the structure of living things. It is a general term that includes human anatomy, animal anatomy , and plant anatomy...

, surgery and obstetrics

Obstetrics

Obstetrics is the medical specialty dealing with the care of all women's reproductive tracts and their children during pregnancy , childbirth and the postnatal period...

 at the University of Würzburg

University of Würzburg

The University of Würzburg is a university in Würzburg, Germany, founded in 1402. The university is a member of the distinguished Coimbra Group.-Name:...

. He remained a professor at Würzburg until his death in 1807. He was grandfather to German naturalist

Naturalist

Naturalist may refer to:* Practitioner of natural history* Conservationist* Advocate of naturalism * Naturalist , autobiography-See also:* The American Naturalist, periodical* Naturalism...

 Philipp Franz von Siebold

Philipp Franz von Siebold

Philipp Franz Balthasar von Siebold was a German physician and traveller. He was the first European to teach Western medicine in Japan...

 (1796–1866).

In 1776 Siebold was appointed as head physician (Oberwundarzt) of the Juliusspital in Würzburg. Under his leadership at Juliusspital, new surgical techniques were introduced, a regimen of hygiene

Hygiene

Hygiene refers to the set of practices perceived by a community to be associated with the preservation of health and healthy living. While in modern medical sciences there is a set of standards of hygiene recommended for different situations, what is considered hygienic or not can vary between...

 was established, and renovation of the Theatrum Anatomicum took place. In 1805 the Juliusspital reportedly had the first modern operating room in the world.

Some of Siebold's better known students were Franz Kaspar Hesselbach

Franz Kaspar Hesselbach

Franz Kaspar Hesselbach was a German surgeon and anatomist who was a native of Hammelburg. He was a pupil, and later Prosector under Karl Kaspar von Siebold at Würzburg. Later Hesselbach was a lecturer at Würzburg, where one of his students was Konrad Johann Martin Langenbeck...

 (1759–1816), Johann Friedrich Meckel

Johann Friedrich Meckel

Johann Friedrich Meckel , often referred to as Johann Friedrich Meckel, the Younger, was a German anatomist born in Halle...

(1781–1833) and Nicolaus Anton Friedreich (1761–1836).