Ernst Adolf Coccius, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Ernst Adolf Coccius

German ophthalmologist

Date of Birth: 19-Sep-1825

Place of Birth: Knauthain, Leipzig District, Germany

Date of Death: 01-Jan-1890

Profession: university teacher, ophthalmologist

Nationality: Germany

Zodiac Sign: Virgo

Ernst Adolf Coccius (September 19, 1825 – November 24, 1890) was a German ophthalmologist who was a native of Knauthain, which today is part of the city of Leipzig.
He studied medicine in Leipzig, Prague and Paris, and earned his degree in 1848 with the thesis "De morbis typhum sequentibus".
From 1849 to 1857 he served as an assistant to Friedrich Philipp Ritterich at the Leipzig Eye Clinic, becoming its director and a full professor in 1867, positions he held up until his death in 1890.
After his death, he was succeeded by Hubert Sattler (1844-1928) at the University of Leipzig. In 1853, Coccius provided the first description of retinal breaks of the eye, and subsequently made the association to retinal detachment.
In 1853 he devised an ophthalmoscope that was a modification of the device invented by Hermann von Helmholtz (1821-1894). His elder brother was the pianist and pedagogue Theodor Coccius (1824-1897).