Josef Hyrtl

Josef Hyrtl (7 December 1810 – 17 July 1894) was an Austrian anatomist. His work in German, including the publication of Lehrbuch der Anatomie des Menschen in 1846, which was considered the German equivalent of Gray's Anatomy.

Hyrtl was born at Kismarton, Hungary (now Eisenstadt, Austria). His father was a musician in the orchestra of Count Esterhazy in Austria. He received his preliminary education in his native town, and eventually went on to study medicine. He began his medical studies in Vienna in 1831.

It was as a teacher that Hyrtl exerted his greatest influence. Professor Karl von Bardeleben, a leader of anatomy in the nineteenth century, did not hesitate to say that in this Hyrtl was unequalled. His fame spread throughout Europe, and he came to be looked upon as the teaching pride of the University of Vienna.

In 1858, he was visited by George Eliot and her partner. In her journal, she wrote:

"Another great pleasure we had at Vienna—next after the sight of St. Stephen's and the pictures—was a visit to Hyrtl, the anatomist, who showed us some of his wonderful preparations, showing the vascular and nervous systems in the lungs, liver, kidneys, and intestinal canal of various animals. He told us the deeply interesting story of the loss of his fortune in the Vienna revolution of '48. He was compelled by the revolutionists to attend on the wounded for three days' running... His fortune in Government bonds was burned along with the house, as well as all his precious collection of anatomical preparations, etc. He told us that since that great shock his nerves have been so susceptible that he sheds tears at the most trifling events, and has a depression of spirits which often keeps him silent for days. He only received a very slight sum from Government in compensation for his loss."

In 1865, on the occasion of the celebration of the five-hundredth anniversary of the foundation of the University of Vienna, he was chosen rector in order that, as the most distinguished member of the university, he should represent her on that day. His inaugural address as rector had for its subject The Materialistic Conception of The Universe of Our Time. In this he argued that there was clear lack of logic in the materialistic view of the world and concluded:

"When I bring all this together it is impossible for me to understand on what scientific grounds is founded this resurrection of the old materialistic view of the world that had its first great expression from Epicurus and Lucretius. Nothing that I can see justifies it, and there is no reason to think that it will continue to hold domination over men's minds."

His brother Jakob Hyrtl (1799-1868) was a Viennese engraver, who bequeathed to his brother a skull attributed to Mozart. Josef Hyrtl examined the skull and bequeathed it to the city of Salzburg. Hyrtl had another large collection of skulls, attributed to persons from Europe and the Caucasus region in an attempt to show significant differences in cranial features among individuals classified as white. This work was done to dispute the phrenologists at the time, who claimed certain cranial features were indicative of intelligence and personality. Today, 139 skulls from his collection are on display at the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.