Anton von Störck

Who was Anton von Störck?

Anton von Störck was an Austrian physician who was a native of Saulgau in Upper Swabia.

Both of Störck's parents died when he was young, and he spent his early years as an orphan in a Viennese poorhouse. He studied medicine under Gerard van Swieten in Vienna, and received his degree in 1757. He rose through the academic ranks at the University of Vienna, and would later become deacon of the medical faculty and rector at the University. In 1767 he treated empress Maria Theresa of Austria for smallpox, and after her recovery he became her personal physician.

Störck is remembered for his clinical research of various herbs, and their associated toxicity and medicinal properties. His studies are considered to be the pioneering work of experimental pharmacology and his method can be regarded as forming a blueprint for the clinical trials of modern medicine. He was convinced that plants regarded as poisonous still had medicinal applications if employed in carefully controlled quantities. Störck was particularly interested in the medical possibilities of plants such as hemlock, henbane, jimsonweed and autumn crocus.