Antall József szerk.: Orvostörténeti közlemények 55-56. (Budapest, 1970)

TANULMÁNYOK - Regöly-Mérei, Gyula: The Pathological Reconstruction of Semmelweis's Disease on the Basis of the Catamnestic Analysis and Palaeopathological Examination (angol nyelvű közlemény)

Unfortunately, the case history of Semmelweis' disease has not been made public up to now. Errors may also occur when medical sources are elaborated, moreover, the one-time physician could also have made mistaken observations, hence his diagnosis might have been wrong. II. THREE STATEMENTS ON THE PRAEMORBID PERIOD OF SEMMELWEIS 1) J. Fleischer, the professor's one-time assistant said the following in his commemorative sermon (1872, 22): "... on receiving wrong answers to his questions from probationary midwives he soon broke into torrents of abuse due to his high-strung nature so that the probationary midwives often burst out sobbing; in fact he was kind-hearted and soon realizing the error of his ways tried to mitigate the storm he had raised by jovial endearments." 2) Analysing Semmelweis's inner life, (55, 56, 57) K. Schaffer, a one-time professor of psychiatry of the Budapest University, based his investigations on Kretschmer's psychic types. According to Schaffer, Semmelweis "risked his life and threw all his mental and bodily strength into the scales in the most unselfish way for the idea he represented.

.. It can be said without exaggeration that Semmelweis behaved like a tragic hero in developing his theories on puerperal fever and fighting out his right" (56). Elsewhere Schaffer says the following: (57): "Die körperliche und seelische Persönlichkeit Semmelweis ist im Grunde genommen ein gemischter Typ. Es handelt sich, im Sinne Kretschmers, um eine Legierung zwischen den cycloiden körperlichen und der seelischen überwiegenden schizoiden Konstitution." These two psychic constitutions are not pathological. 3) G. Nyirő, professor of Psychiatry of the Budapest University who died recently said the following about Semmelweis : "becoming aware of the essentials i.e. that inestimable benefit will arise if the truth of what he professed was recognized, he fought an unflagging and persistant fight sparing no pains for the sake of the cause.

.. If a genious hits upon a great truth of humanitarian importance, a particular development can start in his personality, usually called the expansion of personality, expansivus personality development. This happened in the case of Semmelweis. He became obsessed by truth. He fought, heatedly and doggedly, for the justness and acknowledgement of his case. Encountering opposition he became impatient and irritable. At the same time he devoted his entire intellect and being to his discovery whose aim was to ensure the life of women in childbed.

... The expansivus personality is not a malady.

.. The pathological overvalution of personality cannot be detected in the case of Semmelweis. He only set a high value on his truth according to its merits." (44a and 6).