Maximilian Joseph von Chelius (1794-1876) was a renowned German surgeon and ophthalmologist. He studied medicine in Heidelberg, Vienna, and Paris, and in 1819 he became a professor of surgery and ophthalmology at the University of Heidelberg. He was a pioneer in ophthalmic surgery and the author of influential surgical manuals, such as the "Handbuch der Chirurgie". He was ennobled in 1836.