Karl Ferdinand von Graefe

Who was Karl Ferdinand von Graefe?

Karl Ferdinand von Gräfe, often Anglicized to Graefe, was a German surgeon from Warsaw. He was the father of ophthalmologist Albrecht von Graefe and grandfather of politician Albrecht von Graefe.

He studied medicine at Halle and Leipzig, and after obtaining his licence from Leipzig, he was in 1807 appointed a private physician to Duke Alexius of Anhalt-Bernburg. In 1811 he became a professor of surgery and director of the ophthalmological institute at the University of Berlin. During the Sixth Coalition against Napoleon, he was a superintendent of military hospitals.

When peace was concluded in 1815, he resumed his professorial duties. He was also appointed physician to the general staff of the Prussian army, and he became a director of the Friedrich Wilhelm Institute and of the Medico-Chirurgical Academy. He died suddenly at Hanover, where he had been called to operate on the eyes of the crown prince. His grave is preserved in the Protestant Friedhof II der Jerusalems- und Neuen Kirchengemeinde in Berlin-Kreuzberg, south of Hallesches Tor.