Editing Emil Theodor Kocher (section)

== Early life and personal life ==
=== Childhood ===
Kocher's father was Jakob Alexander Kocher (1814–1893), the sixth of seven children to Samuel Kocher (1771–1842), a carpenter, and Barbara Sutter (1772–1849).<ref name="burgerbib_kocher_ja"/><ref name="bonjour1981"/> Jakob Alexander Kocher was a railway engineer and he moved in 1845 to [[Burgdorf, Switzerland]] (near [[Bern]]), because of his job as regional engineer of [[Emmental]] (''Bezirksingenieur'').<ref name="bonjour1981"/> He was named chief engineer for street and water in the [[canton of Bern]] at the age of 34 years and he moved with his family to the capital, the city of Bern.<ref name="bonjour1981"/> In 1858 he left the states service and managed several engineering projects around Bern.<ref name="bonjour1981"/>

Theodor Kocher's mother was Maria Kocher (née Wermuth) living from 1820 to 1900.<ref name="hls"/><ref name="bonjour1981"/> She was a very religious woman and part of the [[Moravian Church]]; together with Jakob Alexander, she raised a family of five sons and one daughter (Theodor Kocher was the second son).

Theodor Kocher was born on 25 August 1841 in Bern and baptized in the local [[Bern Minster]] on 16 September 1841.<ref name="bonjour1981"/> Together with the family, he moved to Burgdorf in 1845 where he started school. Later his family moved back to Bern where he went to middle and high school (''Realschule'' and ''Literaturgymnasium'') where he was the first of his class.<ref name="bonjour1981"/> During high school, Theodor was interested in many subjects and was specifically drawn to art and [[classical philology]] but finally decided to become a doctor.<ref name="bonjour1950"/>

=== Studies ===
He started his studies after obtaining the Swiss [[Matura]] in 1858 at the [[University of Bern]] where [[Michael Anton Biermer|Anton Biermer]] and [[Hermann Askan Demme]] were teaching, two professors that impressed him most.<ref name="bonjour1981"/> He was a studious and dedicated student but still became a member of the [[Schweizerischer Zofingerverein]], a [[Studentenverbindung|Swiss fraternity]].
He obtained his doctorate in Bern in 1865<ref name="choong2009"/><ref name="www.nobelprize.org"/> (March 1865)<ref name="bonjour1981"/> or 1866<ref name="hls"/> <!-- see talk page, section Year_of_dissertation --><ref group="note">While the dissertation was published in 1866 and the HLS refers to 1866 as date of promotion and 1865 as date of completing his studies, all other sources point to 1865 as the date where Kocher obtained his doctorate</ref> with his dissertation about ''Behandlung der croupösen Pneumonie mit Veratrum-Präparaten'' (literal English translation: ''The treatment of croupous pneumonia with [[Veratrum]] preparations.'') under professor Biermer with the predicate ''summa cum laude unamimiter''.<ref name="bonjour1981"/>

In spring 1865, Kocher followed his teacher Biermer to [[Zürich]], where [[Theodor Billroth]] was director of the hospital and influenced Kocher significantly.<ref name="choong2009"/> Kocher then proceeded to start a journey through Europe to meet several of the most famous surgeons of the time.<ref name="bonjour1981"/> It is not clear how Kocher financed his trip but according to Bonjour (1981) he received money from an unknown female [[Suisse romande]] philanthropist who also supported his friend [[Marc Dufour (ophthalmologist)|Marc Dufour]] and was probably a member of the [[Moravian Church]].<ref name="bonjour1981"/> In October 1865, he traveled to [[Berlin]], passing through [[Leipzig]] and visiting an old friend from high school, Hans Blum. In Berlin, he studied under [[Bernhard von Langenbeck]] and applied for an assistant position with Langenbeck and [[Rudolf Virchow]]. Since there was no position available, in April 1867 Kocher moved on to London where he first met [[Jonathan Hutchinson]] and then worked for [[Sir Henry Thompson, 1st Baronet|Henry Thompson]] and [[John Eric Erichsen|John Erichsen]]. Furthermore, he was interested in the work of [[Isaac Baker Brown]] and [[Thomas Spencer Wells]], who also invited Kocher to go to the opera with his family. In July 1867, he traveled on to Paris to meet [[Auguste Nélaton]], [[Aristide Auguste Stanislas Verneuil|Auguste Verneuil]] and [[Louis Pasteur]]. During his travels, he did not only learn novel techniques but also got to know leading surgeons in person and learned to speak English fluently which allowed him later on to follow the scientific progress in the English speaking world with ease.<ref name="bonjour1981"/>

Once returned to Bern, Kocher prepared for his [[habilitation]] and on 12 October 1867, he wrote a petition to the ministry of education to award him the ''[[venia docendi]]'' (Latin: ''to instruct'') which was granted to him.<ref name="bonjour1981"/> He became assistant to [[Georg Albert Lücke|Georg Lücke]] who left Bern in 1872 to become professor in [[Strasbourg]].<ref group="note">Choong (2009) claims that Kocher became assistant in Bern already in 1866 but according to Bonjour, Kocher was then still in Berlin</ref> Kocher was hoping to get his position, but at the time it was customary to appoint German professors to positions at Swiss universities. Accordingly, the faculty suggested [[Franz König (surgeon)|Franz König]] before Kocher to follow Lücke. However, the students and assistants as well as many doctors preferred Kocher and started a petition to the Bernese government to choose Kocher. Also the press was in favor of Kocher and several famous foreign surgeons, such as Langenbeck from Berlin and Billroth from [[Vienna]], wrote letters in support of Kocher. Under this public pressure, the Bernese government (''Regierungsrat'') chose Kocher as the successor of Lücke as Ordinary Professor of Surgery and Director of the [[University of Bern|University]] Surgical Clinic at the ''[[Inselspital]]'' on 16 March 1872, despite a different proposal by the faculty.<ref name="bonjour1981"/>

=== Personal life ===
In 1869, Kocher married Marie Witschi-Courant<ref name="hildebrandt2012"/><ref group="note">Several alternative spellings to Marie Witschi-Courant exist, for example
 Maria Witschi (ref hls),
 Witchi (ref choong2009),
 Witchi-Cournant (ref tan2008),
 Maria Witschi but in letters "Marie" (ref: [http://katalog.burgerbib.ch/deskriptordetail.aspx?ID=137721 Descriptor]</ref> <!-- see talk page, section Name_and_person_info_of_his_wife --> (1841–1921)<ref name="choong2009"/><ref name="www.nobelprize.org"/> or (1850<ref name="bonjour1981"/>–1925).<ref group="note">The Bernese Burgerbibliothek give 1850–1925 as her living years and also Bonjour 1981 writes (pg 86) that she was nineteen in 1869 but does not give a date of death</ref> She was the daughter of Johannes Witschi, who was a [[merchant]],<ref name="hls"/> and she had three sons together with Kocher. The Kochers first lived at the Marktgasse in Bern and moved in 1875 to a bigger house in the Villette. The house became a place for friends, colleagues and guests to gather and many patients from Kocher's clinic were invited to dine at the Villette.<ref name="bonjour1981"/>

Like his mother, Kocher was a deeply religious man and also part of the [[Moravian Church]]. This was an uncommon trait that not many colleagues and co-workers shared and until his death, Kocher attributed all his successes and failures to God. He thought that the rise of [[materialism]] (especially in science) was a great evil, and he attributed the outbreak of the [[First World War]].<ref name="bonjour1981"/>

Kocher was involved in the education of his three sons and played tennis with them and went horseback riding with them.<ref name="bonjour1981"/> The eldest son Albert (1872–1941)<ref name="www.nobelprize.org"/> would follow him to the surgical clinic in Bern and become Assistant Professor of Surgery.<ref name="tan2008"/>

On the evening of 23 July 1917, he was called into the Inselspital for an emergency. Kocher executed the surgery but afterwards felt unwell and went to bed, working on scientific notes. He then fell unconscious and died on 27 July 1917.<ref name="bonjour1981"/>