Rudolph Nissen

Rudolph Nissen (sometimes spelled Rudolf Nissen) (September 5, 1896 – January 22, 1981) was a German surgeon who chaired surgery departments in Turkey, the United States and Switzerland. The Nissen fundoplication, a surgical procedure for the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease, is named after him. Nissen trained under German physicians Ludwig Aschoff and Ferdinand Sauerbruch. He completed the first pneumonectomy by a Western physician in 1931. In 1948, he performed an abdominal surgery that extended the life of Albert Einstein by several years. Nissen wrote an autobiography published at Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt in 1969 called “Helle Blätter, dunkle Blätter. Erinnerungen eines Chirurgen.“ (ISBN 978-3421014993) which was reviewed in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. A selection of his writings and lectures was published at Schattauer in 1997 under the title of “Fünfzig Jahre erlebter Chirurgie: Ausgewählte Vorträge und Schriften.“ (ISBN 978-3794506156).