Robert Koch was born in Clausthal, Hannover, Germany, on 11 December 1843, to Hermann Koch and Mathilde Julie Henriette Biewand.
Early Life and Education
Koch excelled in academics from an early age. Before entering school in 1848, he had taught himself how to read and write. He graduated from high school in 1862, having excelled in science and maths. At the age of 19, Koch entered the University of Göttingen, studying natural science. However, after two semesters, Koch decided to change his area of study to medicine, as he aspired to be a physician. During his fifth semester of medical school, Jacob Henle, an anatomist who had published a theory of contagion in 1840, asked him to participate in his research project on uterine nerve structure. In his sixth semester, Koch began to conduct research at the Physiological Institute, where he studied succinic acid secretion. This would eventually form the basis of his dissertation. In January 1866, Koch graduated from medical school, earning honors of the highest distinction.
Adult Life
In July 1867, following his graduation from medical school, Koch married Emma Adolfine Josephine Fraatz, and the two had a daughter, Gertrude, in 1868. After his graduation in 1866, he worked as a surgeon in the Franco-Prussian War, and following his service, worked as a physician in Wollstein (now Wolsztyn, Poland). Koch’s marriage with Emma Fraatz ended in 1893, and later that same year, he married actress Hedwig Freiberg. From 1885 to 1890, he served as an administrator and professor at Berlin University.
Late Life and Death
Koch suffered a heart attack on 9 April 1910, and never made a complete recovery. On 27 May, only three days after giving a lecture on his tuberculosis research at the Berlin Academy of Sciences, Robert Koch died in Baden-Baden at the age of 66. Following his death, the Institute named its establishment after him in his honor.
