Fathers of Ophthalmology: Who Founded What
Last updated: October 2026
Pages on this topic
- History by subspecialty, with timelines
- This page: Who founded what: the fathers of ophthalmology
Who is called the "father" of what in ophthalmology. Some titles are traditional rather than strictly historical; where there is a dispute, it is noted.
Founders of the specialty
| Title | Person | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Father of Indian surgery and ophthalmology | Sushruta (c. 600 BCE) | Described couching for cataract in the Sushruta Samhita |
| Father of optics | Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen, 965–1040) | Book of Optics: light enters the eye |
| Father of German ophthalmology | Georg Bartisch (1535–1607) | Ophthalmodouleia, the first ophthalmic textbook in German |
| Early "father of ophthalmology" | Georg Joseph Beer (1763–1821) | First university eye clinic, Vienna |
| Founding fathers of modern ophthalmology | Albrecht von Graefe, Hermann von Helmholtz, Frans Donders | Iridectomy for glaucoma, the ophthalmoscope, refraction and accommodation |
| Father of ophthalmic history | Julius Hirschberg (1843–1925) | Geschichte der Augenheilkunde; also the Hirschberg test |
| Father of modern Indian ophthalmology | Prof. Lalit Prakash Agarwal | Founder of the RP Centre, AIIMS, New Delhi |
Surgery
| Title | Person | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Father of modern cataract surgery | Jacques Daviel (1696–1762) | First planned extracapsular cataract extraction (1747) |
| Father of the intraocular lens | Sir Harold Ridley (1906–2001) | First IOL implanted 29 November 1949 |
| Father of phacoemulsification | Charles Kelman (1930–2004) | Introduced phaco in 1967 |
| Father of refractive (lamellar) surgery | José Ignacio Barraquer (1916–1998) | Keratomileusis, microkeratome, cryolathe |
| Father of retinal detachment surgery | Jules Gonin (1870–1935) | Located and sealed the retinal break (ignipuncture) |
| Father of modern retinal surgery | Charles Schepens (1912–2006) | Binocular indirect ophthalmoscope, scleral buckling |
| Father of vitrectomy | Robert Machemer (1933–2009) | Pars plana vitrectomy (1970) |
| Father of strabismus surgery | Johann Friedrich Dieffenbach (1839) | First successful strabismus operation (Florent Cunier is also credited) |
| Father of glaucoma drainage implants | Anthony Molteno | Molteno implant (1969) |
| Father of keratoprosthesis | Guillaume Pellier de Quengsy | Proposed a glass corneal prosthesis (1789) |
| Father of modern eye banking | R. Townley Paton | First eye bank, New York (1944) |
Subspecialties and investigations
| Title | Person | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Father of clinical perimetry | Albrecht von Graefe | First systematic clinical field testing (1856); Bjerrum and Goldmann standardised it later |
| Father of automated perimetry | Franz Fankhauser | Octopus perimeter (1970s) |
| Fathers of gonioscopy | Alexios Trantas and Maximilian Salzmann | Trantas coined the term (1907); Salzmann designed the goniolens (1914) |
| Father of neuro-ophthalmology | Frank B. Walsh (1895–1978) | Clinical Neuro-Ophthalmology textbook |
| Father of paediatric ophthalmology | Marshall M. Parks (1918–2005) | Defined the subspecialty; Parks three-step test |
| Father of macular disease | J. Donald M. Gass (1928–2005) | Stereoscopic Atlas of Macular Diseases; Gass classifications |
| Father of ophthalmic pathology (USA) | Frederick H. Verhoeff | Verhoeff stain |
| "Father" of laser vision correction | Josef Bille | Early laser and wavefront patents (title is informal) |
National "fathers" are also commonly cited: Florent Cunier (Belgium), Victor Szokalski (Poland), Geminiano de Ocampo (Philippines), and Delafield and Rodgers (USA).
Related: Important history in ophthalmology, Nobel Prize winners, Instruments: who invented what.
Revise with flip cards
📘 Want the exam-ready deep dive? This topic, and much more is covered in Ophthalmology Explorer (A High-Yield Clinical Reference for Ophthalmology Residents, Fellows & Board Exams) — available on Kindle. See all my books.
Experiencing symptoms like these? Learn about our Eye Department or book a consultation with Dr. Dhaval Patel.