Franz von Pitha was an Austrian surgeon

Surgeon

In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...

 who was a native of Rakom, a village near Klatovy

Klatovy

Klatovy is a town in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic.Klatovy is also the seat of the Municipality with Extended Competence and Municipality with Commissioned Local Authority.- History :Klatovy was founded during 1260–1263 by Přemysl Otakar II....

, Bohemia

Bohemia

Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...

.

In 1836 he received his medical doctorate at Prague

Prague

Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

, and was later a professor of surgery at Charles University in Prague

Charles University in Prague

Charles University in Prague is the oldest and largest university in the Czech Republic. Founded in 1348, it was the first university in Central Europe and is also considered the earliest German university...

, and at Josephs Academy (Josephinum) in Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

, where he was chair of surgery from 1857 to 1874.

During the Italian Wars of Independence

Italian Independence wars

The Wars of Italian Independence were three wars fought between Italian states and the Austrian Empire between 1848 and 1866, ending with the conquest of the entire Italian Peninsula...

, Pitha was chief of field medical services. In this role he made advancements in Austrian military hygiene, and also gained experience regarding battle-related injuries. He published a treatise titled Verletzungen und Krankheiten der Extremitäten (Injuries and Diseases of the Extremities), as a result of his war-time experiences.

Pitha was instrumental in acquiring a position for Theodor Billroth

Theodor Billroth

Christian Albert Theodor Billroth was a German-born Austrian surgeon and amateur musician....

(1829-1894) at the medical faculty in Vienna, and with Billroth he published an important textbook on surgery called Handbuch der allgemeinen und speciellen Chirurgie mit Einschluss der topographischen Anatomie, Operations- und Verbandlehre (Textbook of General and Specialized Surgery with the Inclusion of Topographical Anatomy, Operations and Bandaging Skills).