Paul de Sorbait was born on 25 January 1624.
As an epidemiologist, Sorbait faced one of the greatest challenges of his time: the containment of the plague. Born in Hainaut Province (today in Belgium), Sorbait studied in Paderborn, Vienna and finally in Padua. He returned to Vienna with a doctorate in medicine and became a doctor at the Bürgerspital. From 1655 to 1682, he taught as a professor at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Vienna. In 1678, he recognised the harbingers of the epidemic spread of the plague at an early stage and was appointed inquisitor general in plague matters in 1679. His great achievement was his assessment of effective measures such as quarantine, social distancing and hygiene. His networks with the imperial court, the city of Vienna and the scholarly world are also impressively documented in the sources.
In collaboration with the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the University of Vienna is presenting an exhibition about the plague doctor and rector, which was opened on 25 January 2024.
