Viktor von Hacker (1852-1933): recollection of the life and work of an important pupil of Billroth

The year of 1999 marks the 75th anniversary of Viktor von Hacker's retireme nt as chairman of the Department of Surgery at Karl-Franzens University Sch ool of Medicine in Graz. He was a favored pupil of Theodor Billroth (1829-1 894). When he took his professorship at Graz in 1903, the present hospital, then as now one of the largest in Europe, was still in planning, and he im mediately involved himself in all the subsequent developmental stages. Now we are again living through a stage of major reconstruction and expansion w ithin the context of the,,LKH 2000" project which also encompasses the surg ical department and wards, most of which have generally remained unchanged since Hacker's time. During his 21 years as chairman of the department, Hac ker made major contributions in the fields of gastro-intestinal surgery, es ophageal surgery and especially esophagoscopy, as well as plastic surgery. Towards the end of his career, 70 years ago, Viktor von Hacker was named an honorary member of the German Society of Surgery. For these reasons, the m an and his work should be recalled.