Maximilian Stoll

Maximilian Stoll (October 12, 1742 - May 25, 1787) was an Austrian physician who was a native of Erzingen, Baden-Württemberg. Stoll originally trained as a theologian, but switched to medicine, and received his degree in 1776. Afterwards, he succeeded Anton de Haen (1704-1776) as head of the Burgerspital (City hospital) in Vienna. This facility would later be combined with the Spanischespital (Spanish hospital) into a joint medical arrangement referred to as the Uniertespital. In Vienna, he worked closely with Leopold Auenbrugger (1722-1809) and Anton von Störck (1731-1803). One of Stoll's better known students was phrenologist Franz Joseph Gall (1758-1828).

Stoll is remembered for his epidemiological and systematic approach to medicine. He stressed the importance of knowing the clinical details of a patient's history, and installed the practice of keeping daily progress records of patients. He also developed a system of classifying diseases that was similar to the nosology of Thomas Sydenham (1624-1689). Stoll was one of the first practitioners of Auenbrugger's percussion methodology, and in 1777 is credited with providing the first description of gall bladder cancer.

Stoll was a popular lecturer, and is considered an important figure in the "Old Vienna School" of medicine, a group that included Auenbrugger, Störck, Gerard van Swieten (1700-1772), et al.