Emil Theodor Kocher was a Swiss physician and medical researcher who received the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work in the physiology, pathology and surgery of the thyroid. Among his many accomplishments are the introduction and promotion of aseptic surgery and scientific methods in surgery, specifically reducing the mortality of thyroidectomies below 1% in his operations. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1909, announced October 28, 1909. Theodor Kocher, “for his work on the physiology, pathology and surgery of the thyroid gland”. Theodor Kocher: born 1841, Bern, Switzerland. Wiki link Data: the Nobel Foundation (CC0).