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In Memory of Prof Maurice E Müller
by Lars Lidgren
Professor Maurice E Müller passed away May 10, 2009 in Bern at the age of 91. He was born in Biel, Switzerland, and obtained his first clinical position in the Balgrist Hospital in Zürich in 1944.
Maurice Müller met Danis 1951 in Belgium laying the ground for the AO technique which he in 1958 founded along with Martin Allgöwer, Hans Willenegger and Robert Schneider. Already in 1961 he prformed his first total hip and in 1963 he secured his position as Professor and Chairman at the University of Bern. In 1965 he set up the Protek company. Since its beginning, the AO foundation has educated thousands of orthopaedic surgeons in fracture treatment.
I had the pleasure of meeting Maurice Müller for the first time when he invited me to lecture on orthopaedic infections in Bern in 1973. In 1975 in Balgrist, Zürich where I worked a nurse in the outpatient unit gave me some insight in how the AO really started. She had been serving under Maurice Müller since the early 1950s. During the Balgrist time very often after work in the hospital Maurice would go on his motorbike and later in his car with a bag of instruments fixing fractures all around Switzerland. During that time he developed a very profound understanding of the importance of exact technique and as such developed instruments for precise fracture fixation. I had a second opportunity to meet with Maurice in Lugano 2001 and he was still deeply interested in new scientific findings and very well oriented in modern orthopaedics. He was an early supporter of the Bone and Joint Decade, being one of its first ambassadors.
For Maurice Müller it is easy to say he had seen it all, he had heard it all and he had done it all, but most importantly, we can say for certain that there are not many like him around any longer. He devoted his entire life to advancing orthopaedics, and at the same time philanthropically supporting the many who are working for the benefit of musculoskeletal disorders. He will be missed.
Our condolences go to his family.
Lars Lidgren
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