Summary
The Swiss Ophthalmological Society (SOS) was founded in Bern on 26 April 1908. An
important prelude to the foundation of the Society was the tenth international congress
of ophthalmology in Lucerne in 1904, at which Marc Dufour presided. Among the 50 Swiss
ophthalmologists who organized and attended this congress were the founders of the
Swiss Ophthalmological Society. There are neither any minutes nor a list of participants
of the first meeting in April 1908, at which August Siegrist acted as president and
Jules Gonin as secretary. Some of the founders of the SOS are described in this paper.
The first meetings were mainly concerned with administrative and professional problems.
Intense scientific activity only started in 1916, mainly due to the efforts of Alfred
Vogt in Aarau. The author concludes this paper by pointing out the importance of the
“unknown ophthalmologist”, whose quiet, unselfish day-to-day work in practice represents
a contribution to culture in the sense of creative human activity.
