Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister, was a British surgeon, medical scientist, experimental pathologist and a pioneer of antiseptic surgery and preventive healthcare. Joseph Lister revolutionised the craft of surgery in the same manner that John Hunter revolutionised the science of surgery.

In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as physicians before specializing in surgery.