Antall József szerk.: Pictures from the Past of the Healing Arts / Orvostörténeti Közlemények – Supplementum 5. (Budapest, 1972)

The Life of Ignác Semmelweis (1818-1865)

sity there were five small rooms for labouring women, the windows of the 81 St. Rochus Hospital looked onto the dissectingroom. The head of the hospital was at the same time professor of midwifery, surgery and pathology. Birly, the professor of midwifery tried to fight against puerperal fever by giving the patients purgatives. Semmelweis received an appointment as unsalaried head of the maternity ward of the St. Rochus Hospital (Fig.96.) under such circumstances. In six years he achieved that only 0.85 percent of his patients died from puerperal fever. Professor Birly died in 1855 and Semmelweis was appointed Professor of Theoretical and Practical Obstetrics in the University of Pest. This appointment meant not only the chair at the university but a complete recognition of his activity which he could have never achieved in Vienna. He was professor in the University of Pest only for ten years, but this period was of immense importance in the life of the Medical Faculty, so much so that the Medical Faculty of the Budapest University was named after him in 1969. He struggled with unbelievable energy against the elimination of the dangers of infection. Hundreds of obstetricians and midwives spread his doctrine in Hungary. In 1857 a new period began in his life. He refused the invitation of the university of Zurich, but encouraged by Markusovszky, he published his doctrine in the Medical Weekly established by that time. He described his theories on puerperal fever, the history of his discovery and the difference between his opinion and that of the English obstetricians, who believed that puerperal fever was a specific contagious disease. Meanwhile he married Mária Weidenhofer. Out of the five children from the wedlock (Figs. 98-99.) only three survived and only one had further descendants. His articles in the Medical Weekly did not prove sufficient to defend his truth against his opponents. Only a book written in German could fulfil this task. His work "Aetiologie der Begriff und die Prophylaxis des Kindbettfiebers" came out at the end of i860 (publishing date: 1861) (Fig. 100.). It contains everything we know about the history of his discovery, discussions, doubts and successes. His work is a basic and thorough medical work, an exact statistical document, a memoir of direct tone and an argumentation of refined irony at the same time. He went on attacking his opponents with his "Open letters" written in German (1861,1862). His tone became more and more acid. Nothing could make him, who was sure of his truth, loose his temper more than the lack of comprehension. His chief opponents were Spaeth, Siebold and Scanzoni. He wrote to the latter: "You have demonstrated Herr Hofrath, that in a new hospital like yours, provided with the most modern furnishings and appliances, a good deal of homicide can be commited where the required talent exists". Among his other oppenents we find the French Academy as well as Professor Virchow.