PHYSICIANS from Czechia

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Czech Physicians of all time. This list of famous Czech Physicians is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Czech Physicians.

1. Eduard Bloch (1872 - 1945)

With an HPI of 63.00, Eduard Bloch is the most famous Czech Physician.  His biography has been translated into 25 different languages on wikipedia.

Eduard Bloch (30 January 1872 – 1 June 1945) was an Austrian physician practicing in Linz, who, for many years until 1907, was the family doctor of Adolf Hitler and his family. When Hitler's mother, Klara, was dying of breast cancer, Bloch billed the family at a reduced cost and sometimes refused to bill them outright. An Austrian Jew, Bloch was awarded special protection by Hitler who personally intervened to ensure his safety following the German annexation of Austria in 1938. Following Kristallnacht and the escalation of anti-Jewish sentiment in Germany, Hitler allowed Bloch to emigrate to the United States, where he lived until his death in 1945, succumbing to stomach cancer.

2. Carl von Rokitansky (1804 - 1878)

With an HPI of 58.69, Carl von Rokitansky is the 2nd most famous Czech Physician.  His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Baron Carl von Rokitansky (German: Carl Freiherr von Rokitansky, Czech: Karel Rokytanský; 19 February 1804 – 23 July 1878) was an Austrian physician, pathologist, humanist philosopher and liberal politician, founder of the Viennese School of Medicine of the 19th century. He was the founder of science-based diagnostics, connecting clinical with pathological results in a feedback loop that is standard practice today but was daring in Rokitansky's day.

3. Joseph Škoda (1805 - 1881)

With an HPI of 57.12, Joseph Škoda is the 3rd most famous Czech Physician.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Joseph Škoda (Czech: Josef Škoda; 10 December 1805 – 13 June 1881) was an Austrian physician, medical professor and dermatologist. Together with Carl Freiherr von Rokitansky, he was the founder of the Modern Medical School of Vienna.

4. Vincenz Priessnitz (1799 - 1851)

With an HPI of 56.30, Vincenz Priessnitz is the 4th most famous Czech Physician.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Vincenz Priessnitz, also written Prießnitz (sometimes in German Vinzenz, in English Vincent, in Czech Vincenc; 4 October 1799 – 26 November 1851) was a peasant farmer in Gräfenberg, Austrian Silesia, who is generally considered the founder of hydrotherapy, an alternative medical treatment. Priessnitz stressed remedies such as vegetarian food, air, exercise, rest, water, and traditional medicine. He is thus also credited with laying the foundations of what became known as Nature Cure, although it has been noted that his main focus was on hydrotherapeutic techniques. The use of cold water as a curative is recorded in the works of Hippocrates and Galen, and techniques such as spas, bathing, and drinking were used by various physicians in Europe and the US through to the 18th century. The practice was becoming less prevalent entering the 19th century however, until Priessnitz revived the technique after having major success applying it on patients in his spa in Gräfenberg (now Lázně Jeseník). Priessnitz's name first became widely known in the English-speaking world through the publications and lecture tours of Captain R. T. Claridge in 1842 and 1843, after he had stayed at Grafenberg in 1841. However, Priessnitz was already a household name on the European continent, where Richard Metcalfe, in his 1898 biography, stated: "there are hundreds of establishments where the water-cure is carried out on the principles laid down by Priessnitz". Indeed, Priessnitz's fame became so widespread that his death was reported as far away as New Zealand.

5. Friedrich von Berchtold (1781 - 1876)

With an HPI of 55.18, Friedrich von Berchtold is the 5th most famous Czech Physician.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Count Friedrich Carl Eugen Vsemir von Berchtold, baron von Ungarschitz (Czech: Bedřich Karel Eugen Všemír Berchtold hrabě z Uherčic; 25 October 1781 – 3 April 1876), was a German-speaking Bohemian physician and botanist of Austrian descent.

6. Tomáš Špidlík (1919 - 2010)

With an HPI of 54.81, Tomáš Špidlík is the 6th most famous Czech Physician.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Tomáš Josef Špidlík, S.J. (17 December 1919 – 16 April 2010) was a Czech prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was a Jesuit priest and theologian. Pope John Paul II made him a cardinal in 2003.

7. Arnold Pick (1851 - 1924)

With an HPI of 51.06, Arnold Pick is the 7th most famous Czech Physician.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Arnold Pick (20 July 1851 – 4 April 1924) was a psychiatrist from Austria-Hungary and later Czechoslovakia. He is known for first describing clinical features of frontotemporal dementia between 1892 and 1906. The disorder he described was given the name Pick's disease in 1922. This term is now reserved for the behavioral variant of frontal temporal dementia that shows the presence of the characteristic Pick bodies and Pick cells, which were first described by Alois Alzheimer in 1911. He was the first to name reduplicative paramnesia. He was the second to use the term dementia praecox (in 1891). Pick trained in Berlin with Karl Friedrich Otto Westphal and later worked at the infamous asylum of Wehnen. Pick headed the Prague neuropathological school and one of the school's members was Oskar Fischer. This school was one of the two neuropathological schools (the other one was in Munich where Alois Alzheimer worked) in Europe at the time that framed Alzheimer disease through empirical discoveries.

8. Julius Vincenz von Krombholz (1782 - 1843)

With an HPI of 50.96, Julius Vincenz von Krombholz is the 8th most famous Czech Physician.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Julius Vincenz von Krombholz (19 December 1782 – 1 November 1843) was a physician and mycologist born in Oberpolitz (today Horní Police, Czech Republic), northern Bohemia. He studied medicine at the University of Prague, receiving his doctorate in 1814. In 1828 he was appointed professor of special pathology and therapy. At Prague, he used his influence to help the penniless August Carl Joseph Corda (1809–1849) get admitted to the university. In 1831 he was named rector of the university.

9. Ferdinand Ritter von Hebra (1816 - 1880)

With an HPI of 50.59, Ferdinand Ritter von Hebra is the 9th most famous Czech Physician.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Ferdinand Karl Franz Schwarzmann, Ritter von Hebra (7 September 1816, in Brno, Moravia – 5 August 1880 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary) was an Austrian Empire physician and dermatologist known as the founder of the New Vienna School of Dermatology, an important group of physicians who established the foundations of modern dermatology.

10. Jan Janský (1873 - 1921)

With an HPI of 49.31, Jan Janský is the 10th most famous Czech Physician.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Jan Janský (Czech pronunciation: [ˈjan ˈjanskiː]; 3 April 1873 – 8 September 1921) was a Czech serologist, neurologist and psychiatrist. He is credited with the classification of blood into four types (I, II, III, IV).