Antall József szerk.: Orvostörténeti közlemények 46-47. (Budapest, 1968)

TANULMÁNYOK - Antall József: A család és az iskola szerepe Semmelweis személyiségének kialakulásában (Német nyelven)

rian Academy of Sciences, Professor of Philosophy in 1848, later Piarist provost author of many philosophical, psychological, and educational works. His "A bölcsészet elemei'

1 (Buda, 1843) (Rudiments of Philosophy) was a basic work at that time. In Semmelweis' last year his form-master was Péter Nagy, a later headmaster of the Piarist School, who once was the teacher of Ferenc Deák, the great statesman of the Compromise of 1867. Nagy, too, was Piarist provost for a long time, and he was a recognized and many-sided scholar of his age. Finally, the head-master was Glycerius Spányik, author of numerous theological, philosophical and historical works, and a member of the Educational Committee of the Lieutenancy (Governing-Council) in Buda. At the time of the rule of Haynau Palotay-Purgstaller was imprisoned and dismissed from his post. Péter Nagy— although more of a conservative, also resigned as head-master when the introduction of German as the language of teaching was ordered after the supressior of the War of Independence. Semmelweis spent the two philosophical classes following the grammar school at the Pest University, but his teachers (and his results) still cannot be authentically identified as the corresponding files deposited at the National Archives have been destroyed by fire. III. Finally we are considering Semmelweis' way of thinking his education, and his general knowledge. His writings are objective, even his imageries, his comparisons do not show any elements of classical education. It would be easy to blame the bad school again, but it is not so. If one's mind concentrates on one problem (like it was in his case), on the research of puerperal fever and to make it accepted, this determines his whole thinking and makes everything around him to be of secondary importance. In the case of Semmelweis this even lead to not noticing those new scientific developments which supported his thesis. His personality reached the climax of his development with his discovery. But there can be not doubt about his erudition. The remnants of his library are in the custody of the Semmelweis Medical Historical Museum, which besides obstetrical periodicals bearing his signature and containing his remarks in Hungarian, include the works of Horace, Virgil, and Cicero. His personality— compared with his contemporaries'—is more like that of a modern specialist; instead of a wide general education it bears the mark of his special interest, his inquisitive passion. The role of his alleged bad schooling was even linked with his discovery of the puerperal fever by several biographers treading in the wake of Schürer von Waldheim, who look upon the school as which had only given him inadequate knowledge, immunity from disturbing facts, thus leaving his mind open to new perception, to clear thinking. Professor Erna Lesky from Vienna has referred to the absurdity of explaining a process which required so much deep, complicated, scientific thinking with lack of knowledge. She gives the credit to the methods of the Viennese medical school, to the influence of the circle of Rokitansky