AO Founder, Peter Matter, celebrates his 90th birthday

Today we celebrate the 90th birthday of Prof Peter Matter, MD, and one of the AO Foundation founders.

Matter, who has been an inspiration to so many, is best known for his role as an AO Foundation founder, president of AO Switzerland and later AO International, as well as president of the AO Foundation from 2000–2002. 


He has achieved many milestones in his life and today marks another one.

Matter participated in the first AO Davos Courses in 1960 as an assistant. He jokingly says that his role was to maintain the supply of beer and hot dogs. 



In 1970, he was appointed chief physician at Spital Davos. Although Davos was a peripheral hospital, it was a mecca for fracture care osteosynthesis specialist since skis’ safety bindings were being optimized at that time and lower leg fractures were among the most common injuries.


Matter was the driving force behind construction of the AO Center Davos and was its designated watchman during the construction process.

Retirement didn’t slow him down: Matter again became a founder, as part of Science City Davos in 2004 and as part of Academia Raetica Switzerland in 2006. In 2007, the municipality of Davos honored Matter for his life's work.