János Balassa

János Balassa
János Balassa
	János Balassa
Born	1814
Died	1868
Nationality	Hungarian, Austrian-Hungarian
Known for	Surgery, Cardiac resuscitation (CPR)

János Balassa (1815–1868) was a surgeon, university professor, and one of the leading personalities of the Hungarian medical society at the time. He was also an internationally recognized authority within the field of plastic surgery.^[1] Professor of Surgery (1843-) at the University of Pest (Hungary).^[2]

János Balassa was a pioneer of cardiac resuscitation (CPR) and carried out the first reported case of external heart massage.^[3]

In the aftermath of the failed Hungarian Revolution of 1848 where Hungary sought independence from the Austrian Empire, he was temporarily removed from his professorship and imprisoned by the Habsburg authorities.^[4]

Balassa was Ignaz Semmelweis's colleague and house doctor.^[1] He was in the medical commission^[5] that referred Semmelweis to a mental institution, other members were János Bókai and Wagner.^[6]

References

^ ^a ^b Benedek 1983b:107
^ Benedek 1983a: caption to plate 10.
^ Robicsek, F; Littmann, L (1983). "The first reported case of external heart massage (János Balassa)". Clin Cardiol. 6 (11): 569, 571. doi:10.1002/clc.4960061110. PMID 6357583.
^ Carter 2005:68
^ translated from German: Ärztekonsilium
^ Benedek 1983a:292

Sources

Benedek, István (1983a). Ignaz Phillip Semmelweis 1818-1865. Gyomaendrőd, Hungary: Corvina Kiadó (Translated from Hungarian to German by Brigitte Engel). ISBN 963-13-1459-6.

Benedek, István (1983b). Semmelweis Krankheit. Budapest, Hungary: Akadémiai Kiadó (Translated from Hungarian to German by Alfred Falway). ISBN 963-05-3428-2.

Carter, K. Codell; Barbara R. Carter (February 1, 2005). Childbed fever. A scientific biography of Ignaz Semmelweis. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4128-0467-7.