Theodor Kocher (1841-1917), Swiss surgeon. Kocher was mainly educated in his home town of Bern in Switzerland. He subsequently spent most of his professional life in Bern after being appointed Professor of Surgery at the university at the age of 31. Kocher was progressive in the surgical treatment of thyroid gland problems, such as goitre, and in the treatment of dislocated shoulder and inguinal hernia. He recognised the importance of antiseptic treatment of wounds and he introduced sterile silk sutures to his surgical practice in 1882. Kocher was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1909 for his work on the thyroid gland.