Semmelweis, Ignaz Philipp - Austria-Forum : AEIOU : english
Semmelweis, Ignaz Philipp
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b. Buda (Budapest), July 1, 1818,
d. Vienna, Aug. 13, 1865. Obstetrician, discovered the cause of
puerperal fever ("saviour of mothers"). 1846-1849 assistant at the
obstetric clinic in Vienna, then physician in Budapest, where he
became university professor of obstetrics in 1855. Was the first to
realise that puerperal fever was an infection passed on by doctors and
midwives and applied antiseptic methods before the Englishman
J. B. Lister (chlorinated lime disinfection). Most of the
contemporary authorities to whom he appealed in open letters opposed
him; was fully recognised only after his death. S. died of
blood-poisoning while confined in a lunatic asylum in Vienna. The
gynaecological hospital in the 18th district of Vienna has been named
after him.
Publications: Die Aethiologie, der Begriff und die Prophylaxis des
Kindbettfiebers, 1857-1860; 2 offene Briefe an Dr. J. Spaeth, 1861; 2
offene Briefe an Hofrat Dr. C. J. v. Siebold, 1861. - Edition:
Gesammelte Werke, ed. by D. Gyoery, 1905.
Literature: A. Hegar, I. P. S. und seine Lehre, 1882; E.
Lesky, I. P. S. und die Wr. Medizin. Schule, 1964.
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