Emil Theodor Kocher was born August 25, 1841, the son of Jacob Alexander and Maria (Wermuth) Kocher, in Bern, Switzerland. Schooled in Berlin, Germany; London, England; Paris, France; and Vienna, Austria, Kocher received his M.D. from the University of Bern in 1869. That same year he married Marie Witschi-Courant--the couple would have three sons. Newly married and newly graduated from medical school, Kocher visited various European clinics, including one in Vienna, where he studied under the most famous European surgeon of the day, Theodor Billroth. In 1872 Kocher, who was only 31 years old at the time, was named professor of clinical surgery at Bern University, a post he would hold for the next 45 years.

Kocher first gained recognition for developing a method for treating a dislocated shoulder, a technique now known by his name. Subsequently, he also created new methods or improvements in existing methods for operations upon the lungs, stomach...