Johannes Jacobus Rau

Johann Jakob Rau Latinized as Johannes Jacobus Rau (with the variants Rouw or Ravius) (1668 – 18 September 1719) was a Dutch surgeon and anatomist who made advances in lithotomy or the treatment of urinary stones.

Rau was born in Baden-Baden, to wine merchant Johannes and Magdalena Muller.

He then served on a naval ship Graaf van Bentheim and returned to study medicine.

It was a period when procedures were secret and lithotomists gained considerable reputation or fell in favour due to failures.

[1] Lorenz Heister learned the technique and others spread this method around Europe.