Gottfried Welsch (November 12, 1618 – September 5, 1690) was a German physician born in Leipzig.
In 1644 he became a professor of anatomy at the University of Leipzig, and afterwards a professor of physiology (1647), pathology (1662) and therapy (1668).
He held the title of Stadtphysikus in Leipzig, and in 1665 became rector at the University of Leipzig.
Welsch was one of the founders of German forensic medicine, and remembered for introducing fundamental criteria for evaluation of fatal wounds and poisonings.
His best known written work in forensics was the 1660 Rational one vulnerum lethalium judicium.
Author: unknown painter Source: Adelgunde Graefe; R. Klaus Müller; Werner J. Kleemann (Hrsg.): 100 Jahre Forensische Toxikologie im Institut für Rechtsmedizin in Leipzig. MOLINApress, Leipzig 2004. ISBN 3-930865-05-X License: CC-PD-Mark PD Old