Robert Battey (November 26, 1828 - November 8, 1895) was born in Augusta, Georgia. He was the son of Cephas and Mary Agnes Magruder Battey. Battey was educated at schools in Augusta, Georgia and in Andover, Massachusetts. He graduated from Philadelphia College of Pharmacy in 1856. He took courses at Jefferson Medical College, the University of Pennsylvania, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1857. He served four years as a surgeon in the Nineteenth Georgia Volunteer Regiment during the American Civil War. Dr. Battey’s field of study was in gynecology and was well known all over Europe because of the procedure known as "Battey's Operation". On August 27, 1872 he performed the first successful Oophorectomy in Rome, Georgia. The patient, Julie Omberg, had diseased ovaries and lived to be 80 years old. There was lynch mob waiting for Dr. Battey, if he failed the operation. In 1873, he became professor of obstetrics at the Atlanta Medical College where he stayed until 1875. Dr. Battey continued to practice medicine until his death on November 8, 1895.