Julius Scriba

Julius Karl Scriba (5 June 1848 – 3 January 1905) was a German surgeon and botanist who played a significant role in advancing Western medicine in Japan during the Meiji period. Born in Darmstadt, Germany, he studied pharmacy and medicine at the University of Heidelberg, interrupting his studies for military service during the Franco-Prussian War (1870). After completing his education, he practiced medicine in Freiburg im Breisgau, apprenticed under renowned surgeon Vincenz Czerny, and lectured at the University of Freiburg. Scriba was also an amateur botanist, co-publishing a book on European plants with Austrian botanist Karl Keck. In 1870, the Meiji government of Japan began hiring German medical specialists to modernize its healthcare system. Scriba was employed as a foreign advisor from 1881 to 1887 and later renewed his contract until 1901. He taught surgery, dermatology, ophthalmology, and gynecology at Tokyo Imperial University and made significant contributions to Japanese medicine, including the first description of endemic pyomyositis in the tropics (1885) and performing Japan's first craniectomy for a depressed skull fracture (1892). Scriba trained many future leaders in Japanese surgery, including Miyake Hayari, one of Japan's first neurosurgeons. During his tenure, Scriba was summoned by the Japanese government to handle sensitive medical cases, such as treating Tsarevich Nicholas II after the Otsu Scandal (1891) and attending to Chinese diplomat Li Hongzhang following an assassination attempt at the Shimonoseki Peace Conference (1895). Emperor Meiji awarded him the Order of the Sacred Treasures for his services. Scriba also served as chief surgeon ...