按 Jenő Doby 版画所作，1860 年 · 公有领域。
1818–1865
Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis / Semmelweis Ignác Fülöp
Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis · 匈牙利
19th-century Hungarian physician and pioneer of antiseptic disinfection, hailed as the "saviour of mothers" (1818–1865).
Born in Buda (now Budapest), he graduated in medicine from the University of Vienna and worked at the First Obstetrical Clinic of Vienna General Hospital; in 1847 he found that the maternal mortality rate from puerperal fever in the doctors' ward was far higher than in the midwives' ward, and proposed handwashing disinfection with chlorinated lime solution, reducing maternal mortality from about 18% to below 2%; in 1861 he published *The Etiology, Concept and Prophylaxis of Childbed Fever*, which was not accepted by mainstream medicine in his lifetime and was only recognised after Pasteur's germ theory confirmed it.
People & stories
Places in their life
Birthplace and later teaching place Budapest (Semmelweis University, Semmelweis Museum of Medical History); key place of activity Vienna General Hospital.
People
Cultural significance
A pioneer of modern hospital hand hygiene and disinfection systems; his experience has become a classic case of "how evidence is accepted when it precedes theory".
Visit
