Ernst Fuchs, MD
- Recognition:ASCRS Ophthalmology Hall of Fame
“The gift of Ernst Fuchs was to be able to collect medical data and describe them in the most educational way. He added greatly to the knowledge of his time.”
—Mathias E. Zirm, MD
Ernst Fuchs, the son of an ophthalmologist, headed the Second Clinic of Ophthalmology at the University of Vienna from 1885-1915. During those years, ophthalmologists from around the world traveled to Vienna to learn from the man considered the master of their profession. Fuchs’ extensive clinical studies and histopathologic observations provided the first descriptions and definitions of many conditions and diseases of the eye, including Fuchs dystrophy and more than a dozen others which still bear his name. His Textbook of Ophthalmology, first published in 1889, was regarded as the “bible of ophthalmology” for more than 50 years. Decades after Fuchs’ death, ophthalmologists around the world still relied on this definitive text. Ernst Fuchs was famed for his teaching abilities throughout his career but especially during the last 15 years of his life, which he spent traveling to teach and visit his pupils around the world.