[Ludwig von Riediger (Ludwik Rydygier). A great surgeon forgotten in Germany]

Riediger was born in West Prussia and studied medicine in Greifswald under Carl Hueter. Having accomplished his surgical training in Gdańsk, Greifswald and Jena in 1879 he built an outstanding private hospital in Chełmno where he wrote important publications in the Polish language. In 1887 he polonized his name to Rydygier to obtain Bavarian citizenship and succeeded Johann von Mikulicz as the chair of surgery at the Jagiellonian University. In 1897 he was given the chair in surgery at the University of Lviv and in 1901/02 he became rector. In World War I he served in the Austrian and Polish Armies. In the Polish-Soviet War (1920) he played an active role against the invading Bolshevic (Soviet) army as head of the medical service for the Polish army in Pomerania. After 23 years in Lviv he became professor emeritus. Before returning to West Prussia he lost his fortune due to the stock market crash in 1920 and died at 70 years old. Riediger founded the Polish Society of Surgeons and was cofounder of the German Association of Urology. His descendents formed a dynasty of surgeons in Brazil.