In Memoriam Dr. Robert Morger

On December 4, 2004 Dr. Robert Morger passed away at the age of 76 years.

Dr. Morger was born November 19, 1928 in Baden/Switzerland. He studied medicine at the University of Zurich, completed his state examinations in 1954 and subsequently worked as a resident under Professor Dr. Gian Töndury, M.D. at the District Hospital of Laufenburg (in the canton of Aargau, Switzerland), and at the University Clinic for Pediatric Surgery in Basel under Professor Dr. Robert Nicole, M.D. Several sojourns abroad working in Sweden and in Germany, in particular under Professor Schuchardt (Northwest German Dental Clinic, Hamburg), where he learnt the surgical repair of a cleft lip and palate, and under Professor Fritz Rehbein (Bremen), Professor Bischoff (Pediatric Urology Department, Hamburg) and Professor Werner von Ekesparre (Hamburg) rounded off his training. From 1965 to 1993 he was chief physician and head of the Pediatric Surgical Clinic of the Children's Hospital St. Gallen, in eastern Switzerland.

Dr. Morger published numerous academic works covering all surgical areas and fields of pediatric surgery; he supervised 31 doctoral students, published 142 research papers and from January 1981 until June 1999 he was a member of the Editorial Board of the European Journal of Pediatric Surgery, formerly Zeitschrift für Kinderchirurgie. Dr. Morger played an important role in the founding and development of the journal, serving as a distinguished representative of Switzerland internationally. It was due to his efforts that numerous additional supplements were published.

On a personal level Dr. Morger was a much esteemed figure, always curious, with a great capacity for enthusiasm, faith in man's goodness and always full of hope that mankind could change for the better. Thus he wrote in an article on the “thoughts of a physician” (Schweizerische Ärztezeitung 2003): “The more an alert and interested person confronts challenges and deals with other human beings, the greater the likelihood that he will change and go forward. There is no other profession in which human encounters are so permanent, many-facetted and enriching as the profession which I was lucky enough to practice”. This sentence particularly applied to Dr. Morger himself, who always remained curious and interested and continued practicing as a doctor even after his official retirement.

Dr. Morger was fortunate not only in that he was able to have an effect as a pediatric surgeon which extended far beyond the borders of eastern Switzerland, but also in that he was able to put his ideas and his ideals into practice. We thank him for this. He will be remembered by all who knew him and worked with him.