Émile Küss

Émile Küss (1 February 1815 – 1 March 1871) was a French medical doctor who, with Charles-Emmanuel Sédillot, performed the first recorded biopsy on a tumour. He later entered politics in Strasbourg, became mayor, and played a significant role in the decision of the city leaders to surrender to the Germans in 1870 following the Siege of Strasbourg in the Franco-Prussian War.

Early life and family Émile Küss was born in 1815 into "an ancient bourgeois family" of Strasbourg. He was educated at the Protestant Gymnasium in Strasbourg and studied anatomy.

A grandson of his nephew Edouard Küss, son of his brother Théodore, was the surgeon René Küss.

Medical career Küss was appointed head of anatomical studies at the University of Strasbourg in 1843 and professor of physiology in 1846. and according to pathologist and historian James R. Wright, carried out "the first surgical biopsies, predating Carl Ruge, generally considered the father of biopsy, by more than 30 years."

Politics Küss was a committed republican who opposed the Second Republic (1848–1852) of Napoleon III and twice refused the Legion of Honor. He was a leading figure locally in the 1848 June revolution. Along with many others, he was arrested when Bonaparte overturned the Second Republic in December 1851, but was acquitted of all charges by a court in Metz.

Death and legacy Küss died in Bordeaux on 1 March 1871.

In 1873, he was pictured walking through the ruins of Strasbourg in a painting by Théophile Schuler. Two streets are named after Küss; Rue Küss in the 13th arrondissement of Paris,

Gallery

Selected publications Questions sur diverses branches des sciences médicales . Strasbourg, 1841. De l'emploi du caustique en chirurgie. Strasbourg, 1844. De la vascularite et de l'inflammation. Treuttel et Würtz, Strasbourg, 1846. Appréciation générale des progrès de la physiologie depuis Bichat, [Thèse présentée et soutenue devant le jury. Concours pour la chaire de physiologie ouvert à la Faculté de Médecine de Strasbourg], Impr. L.F. Le Roux, 1846, 57 p. Cours de physiologie professé à la Faculté de Médecine de Strasbourg, par É. Küss, rédigé par le Docteur Mathias Duval, J.-B. Baillière et fils (Paris), 1872 (plusieurs éd. ultérieures), XXXV-575 p. (avec une Notice sur le Professeur Küss). Cours de physiologie, d'après l'enseignement du professeur Küss, publié par le Dr Mathias Duval, 2nd edition, complétée par l'exposé des travaux les plus récents, Baillière (Paris), 1873, ; Traduction en anglais par Robert Amaury, Campbell, Boston, 1876 : A course of Lectures in Physiology as delivered by Professor Küss, Texte intégral; traduction en espagnol par Jaime Mitjavila y Ribas : Curso de Fisiología según la enseñanza del Profesor Küss. Con prologo de Ramón Coll y Pujol, Imp. Lázaro Maroto, Madrid, 1876. Cours de physiologie, d'après l'enseignement du professeur Küss, publié par le Dr Mathias Duval, 3rd edition, supplemented by the most recent work, Baillière (Paris), 1876.