Friedrich Philipp Ritterich

Who is Friedrich Philipp Ritterich?

Friedrich Philipp Ritterich was a German ophthalmologist.

He studied medicine in Leipzig and Jena, and following graduation continued his education in Vienna with ophthalmologists Georg Joseph Beer and Johann Adam Schmidt. In 1807 he became privat-docent to the medical faculty at the University of Leipzig, where in 1820 he was appointed professor of ophthalmology. In 1820 he also founded a private eye clinic in Leipzig.

During the late 1850s he succumbed to severe amblyopia, causing him to quit his practice and limit his workload to literary pursuits. Eventually he went completely blind and died in 1866 at the age of 83.

Ritterich made contributions involving writings on squint, and investigations on diseases of the lachrymal nasal canal and the effect of the eye muscles.