Who was Joseph Lister?
Joseph Lister was a surgeon and medical scientist.
He is seen as the founder of antiseptic surgery.
Date and Place of Birth:
5th April 1827, Upton, Essex, England.
Family Background:
The second son of a wine merchant, Joseph Jackson
Lister who was instrumental in the development of the microscope.
Education:
Tottenham College. University College, London
which was one of the few universities to take Quakers. He studied
firstly Arts and then Medicine.
Chronology/Biography of Sir Joseph Lister:
1852: Became House
Surgeon at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.
1867: Lister proved
his scientific methods which he had been working on for some time
and founded modern antiseptic surgery based originally on Louis
Pasteur's theories of bacteria and infection. He used carbolic acid
as the antiseptic agent and heat sterilised instruments. He also
developed absorbable ligatures drainage tubes which have come into
general surgical use.
1869: Became Professor
of Clinical Surgery at Edinburgh University.
1870: Joseph Lister
moved to Number Nine Charlotte Square, Edinburgh.
1877: Moved to work
at Kings College, London.
1893: Retired from
King's College.
1895: Joseph Lister
elected President of the Royal Society of London till 1900.
1900: Elected to
the peerage as First Baron Lister.
Marriage:
1856 to Agnes Syme.
Date and Place of Death:
12th October 1912, Walmer, Kent, England.
Age at Death:
85.
Site of Grave:
Hampstead Cemetery, Fortune Green Road,
London, England.
Places of Interest:
LONDON:
King's College.
EDINBURGH:
Edinburgh University.
Former home and study at number 9 Charlotte Square.
