Kapronczay Károly szerk.: Orvostörténeti Közlemények 194-195. (Budapest, 2006)

TANULMÁNYOK — ARTICLES - HÄNNINEN, O. - FARAGÓ, Mária - MONOS, Emil: Semmelweis ' Discovery and Its Finnish Follow-Up

German. One should also remember that the library services were poor in those days. On the other hand, according to Lister, nobody in Budapest mentioned Semmelweis' work to him during his visit to Budapest. In two decades after his death also Hungarians had completely forgotten Semmelweis and his work (11). Only in 1883, i.e. at the time of Lister's visit to Budapest, and perhaps having been inspired by Lister's work, Hungarian surgeon, Imre Réczey (1848-1913) at the St. Roche's Hospital was the first to mention Semmelweis as the apostle of aseptic medical praxis (1): Réczey worked later as professor of surgery at the same medical faculty in Budapest as Semmelweis in his last years. Pippingsköld and Semmelweis Josef Adam Joachim Pippingsköld (1825-1892) in 1861 wrote to Semmelweis that he had received good results when applying his method in Helsinki Hospital of Obstetrics (9, 10). Already in 1860 Pippingsköld had found that the puerperal fever was transmitted from one patient to another (21). Semmelweis published an open letter in 1862, where he mentioned the names of those colleagues (also Pippinsköld's name) whose findings strongly supported his observations: In Finland it is known that Pippingsköld was corresponding with Semmelweis (21). Semmelweis asked more information from Pippinsköld, but his claim was not met (11). Perhaps some of the mail was lost, since Pippingsköld travelled at that time in Central Europe. Josef Adam Joachim Pippingsköld was an important promoter of several branches of medcine in Finland. His activities covered in addition to gynecology and obstetrics also pediatrics and childcarc, surgery, physiotherapy and balneotherapy. He was an exceptionally active and talented man (17, 18). He defended his dissertation on physiology of circulation and muscle function already in 1857 during his medical studies, before his graduation. In 1859-1861 he continued his studies in surgery and obstetrics in Berlin. Prague and Paris. He wrote another dissertation on the anatomy and functions of pelvis in 1861 and became a docent of obstetrics in the University of Helsinki in 1861. He got professor's title in 1865. As ordinary professor of gynecology and obstetrics he started in 1869 and worked for the University for about twenty years. Pippingsköld made two other trips in Central Europe, and he worked in Strasburg and Paris (13, 21). It is rather obvious that he had learned about Semmelweis' discoveries and results via different routes. Karl Robert Ehrström (1803-1881) was the first in Finland to sudy on puerperal fever in Helsinki in 1836-1837 (4). He submitted his thesis several years before Semmelweis and Pippinsköld. Ehrström concluded that an invisible and undetectable poison was transmitted during examination of patients. It caused puerperal fever even, if the best was done to avoid an exposition. Most probably, Pippinsköld knew well Ehrström's work, äas only few dissertations were submitted fin those days. Professor Knut Samuel Sirelius (1827-1869, as professor 1861-1869) was Pippingsköld's predecessor fin the University of Helsinki. He had studied medicine in Vienna and in Prague. Most probably, he also knew Semmelweis' experiments and results. However, despite being an open-minded scientist, Sirelius did not support Semmelweis' conclusions. Presumably he had also read Ehrström' s thesis. Sirelius was very well aware of