Ignaz Semmelweis

Born in Buda, Semmelweis initially studied law before turning to medicine. He received his medical doctorate in Vienna in 1844 and joined the General Hospital’s maternity clinic in 1846, where mortality differed between wards training physicians and midwives.

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After Jakob Kolletschka died following an autopsy injury, Semmelweis compared his pathology with puerperal-fever cases. He proposed that decomposing organic material carried on physicians’ hands transmitted disease. Handwashing with chlorinated lime, introduced in 1847, was followed by a marked reduction in deaths. He later emphasized cleaning between examinations of different patients.

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Semmelweis headed Pest University’s maternity clinic from 1855 and collected his research in a German book dated 1861. His proposals met resistance but also received sustained support from some teachers and colleagues. The historical conflict involved institutional and scholarly divisions rather than unanimous opposition to his evidence.

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