Pictures from the Past of the Healing Arts / Orvostörténeti Közlemények – Supplementum 18-19. (Budapest, 2000)

Semmelweis's Birthplace - the Home of the Museum

been able to maintain 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 Medi¢al Faculty, in such an extent 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 midwifes spread away his doctrine in Hungary. In 1857 a new period began in his life. He refused an invitation for the university of Zürich. He was encouraged by Markusovszky, to publish his doctrine in the Medical Weekly established by that time. He described his theories on puerperal fever, the story of discovery and the difference between his opinion and those of the English obstetricians, who believed that puerperal fever was a specific contagious disease. Meanwhile, he married Mária Weide lhofer. Unfortunately, out of his five children only three had survived and only one had further descendants. His articles in the Medical Weekly

, though accurate and important, were not sufficient enough to justify the reality of his theory against the big number of opponents. Only a major book, written in an internationally recognized academic language, could fulfill this task. His work the Aethiologie der Begriffųt đ die Prophylaxis des Kindbettfiebers came out at the end of 1861. It contains everything 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 in the following years, in 1861 and in 1862. His tone became more and more sarcastic. Few things can effect anyone to loose temper more than the continual lack of comprehension. His chief opponents were Spaeth, Siebold and Scanzoni. He wrote to the latter: 'You have demonstrated Herr Hofrath (court councillor), that in a new hospital like yours, which has been accommodated with the most modern furnishing and appliances, a good deal of homicide can be committed, providing one has the indispensable talent to carry it out.'' Among his other opponents we find the French Acadcmy as well as Professor Virchow. His illness and death The last years passed in bitter emotions and mclancholy. He continued, however, his work and theoretical activity, and greatly contributed to the rise of gynaecology in Hungary. His doctrine was favourably accepted by the obstetricians of St Petersburg and he was somewhat comfortcd by this recognition. By the middle of July in 1865 his mental health seemed to had been weakened in the cause of his controversies with unbelieving colleagues. This mental insanity became quite obvious on a faculty meeting of the university when instead of making his vote he began to read out the text of the midwifes' oath. His astounded col23