Georg Prochaska

(Jiří Prochaska). Born Apr. 10, 1749, in Bližkovice; died July 17, 1820, in Vienna. Czech physiologist, anatomist, and ophthalmologist; predecessor of J. Purkynĕ.

Prochaska graduated from the medical faculty of the University of Vienna in 1776. He was a professor at the universities of Vienna (1778–80 and 1791–1818) and Prague (1780–91). Prochaska studied the principles underlying the activity of the nervous system and was one of the creators of the reflex theory, which became the basis of neurophysiology. He is the author of well-known handbooks on physiology, which were translated into a number of European languages, including Russian. His research on anatomy focused on the structure of muscles, the nervous system, and the circulatory system. A practicing ophthalmologist, Prochaska performed about 3,000 cataract operations.

Prochaska founded anatomical museums in Vienna and Prague and the Medical Society in Prague (1784). He was an honorary member of many European societies, including the St. Petersburg Medical and Surgical Academy, the Vilnius Medical Society, and the University of Kazan.