Anton Ghon

Austrian pathologist and bacteriologist best known for his research on tuberculosis ("Ghon's complex") and meningitis. His name is also lent to "Ghon focus." His best written effort is a 1912 treatise of childhood tuberculosis called Der primäre Lungenherd bei der Tuberkulose der Kinder.

From 1884 to 1890, Ghon studied medicine at the university in Graz. In 1890 he volunteered at the dermatologic clinic in Vienna. In 1892, he became an aspirant to the pathologic-anatomic division at Krankenanstalt Rudolfstiftung (Rudolf Foundation). In 1893, he worked as demonstrator to the chair of pathological histology and bacteriology and as of 1894 as assistant of Anton Weichselbaum (1845–1920) at the pathological-anatomical institute at the University of Vienna.

Anton Ghon travelled to Bombay in 1897 as a member of the Austrian delegation researching the bubonic plague. For their findings on aetiology, anatomical pathology and epidemiology, he and his colleagues were nominated for the Nobel Prize in 1901. Ghon completed his habilitation in 1899 in Vienna and was appointed associate professor in 1902. In 1910 he became full professor of pathological anatomy at the German University in Prague succeeding Richard Kretz.

In 1910, Anton Ghon married Karoline Illatz in Vienna. He retired in 1935 and died in Prague on 23 April 1936, aged 70, shortly after retiring from his university position. His body was transferred to his hometown Villach and laid to rest in the family tomb.