Friedrich Schauta

Who was Friedrich Schauta?

Friedrich Schauta was an Austrian surgeon and gynecologist born in Vienna.

In 1874 he received his medical doctorate at the University of Vienna, and following graduation remained in Vienna as an assistant at the surgical clinic of Johann von Dumreicher. From 1876 to 1881 Schauta worked under Joseph Späth at the latter's clinic of obstetrics and gynecology. In 1881 he became habilitated for OB/GYN at Vienna, and subsequently relocated to the University of Innsbruck, where in 1884 he became a full professor. Three years later, he succeeded August Breisky in Prague, and in 1891 returned to Vienna as a successor to Carl Braun as chair at the first department of gynecology and obstetrics.

Among his students and assistants were Ernst Wertheim, Josef von Halban and Bianca Bienenfeld.

Schauta is remembered for introducing an operation for uterine cancer in which the uterus and ovaries are removed by way of the vagina. He published numerous articles in the fields of gynecology and obstetrics, two of his better known books being Grundriss der operative Geburtshilfe and Lehrbuch der gesammten Gynäkologie.