He was born in Dresden, where his father had lived since 1869, but returned to his parents' land of origin for his studies and his career.
He did his habilitation in 1918 with Otto Busse and became a professor in 1919 at the University of Lausanne.
From 1932 to 1934, he was Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, and from 1934 to 1936 Rector of the University of Zürich.
The von Meyenburg complex, in liver histopathology, in named after him.
His daughter Gertrud Frisch-von Meyenburg was married from 1943 to 1960 with architect Max Frisch.