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Ignaz Semmelweis
An engraved portrait of Semmelweis: a mustachioed, balding man in formal attire, pictured from the chest up.
Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis, aged 42 in 1860
copperplate engraving by Jenő Doby
Born
Semmelweis Ignác Fülöp

(1818-07-01)July 1, 1818
Buda, Hungary
Died August 13, 1865(1865-08-13) (aged 47)
Vienna, Austrian Empire (now Austria)
Citizenship Kingdom of Hungary
Alma mater Universities of Vienna and Pest
Known for Introducing hand disinfection standards, in obstetrical clinics, from 1847
Spouse(s) Maria Weidenhoffer (1837–1910), married in 1857
Scientific career
Fields Obstetrics, surgeries

Ignaz Semmelweis (born 1818 - died 1865) was a Hungarian doctor who discovered bacteria, disease and infection. He is the father of infection control. Semmelweis observed that if the doctors washed their hands, the number of infections of puerperal fever could be reduced. For this reason, Semmelweis ordered his medical students to wash their hands before and after medical rounds. He was mocked by fellow doctors, but he could not prove his findings, because bacteria had not been discovered yet. In 1870, Robert Koch proved that bacteria can cause disease. People such as Louis Pasteur proved what is known as the germ theory of disease only after Semmelweis' death.

Semmelweis probably had Alzheimer’s disease and was put into an asylum for the insane. He died after being beaten by the staff and inmates.

Images for kids

  • At left, a painted portrait of a woman in a black dress with a frilled hood and ruffled collar. At right, a painted picture of a man in a black coat wearing a cravat.

    Teréz Müller and József Semmelweis, the parents of Ignaz Semmelweis

  • A painted portrait of a boy in a black coat and a red shirt, holding a book in his right hand.

    Ignaz Semmelweis as a child in 1830

  • Semmelweis statue

    Semmelweis statue at the University of Tehran

  • Yearly mortality rates 1841-1846 two clinics

    Puerperal fever mortality rates for the First and Second Clinics at the Vienna General Hospital 1841–1846: The First Clinic has the higher mortality rate.

  • Monthly mortality rates 1841-1849

    Puerperal fever monthly mortality rates for the First Clinic at Vienna Maternity Institution 1841–1849. Rates drop markedly when Semmelweis implemented chlorine hand washing mid-May 1847 (see rates).

  • Streptococcus pyogenes

    Streptococcus pyogenes (red-stained spheres) is responsible for most cases of severe puerperal fever. It is commonly found in the throat and nasopharynx of otherwise healthy carriers.

  • At left, a painting of a balding, mustachioed middle-aged man in black-tie formal attire standing beside a red table. At right, a painting of a woman in a blue dress with white stripes, standing beside a red table.

    Wedding portraits of Ignaz Semmelweis and Maria Weidenhoffer (1857)

  • Ignaz Semmelweis 1861 Etiology front page

    Semmelweis's main work: Die Ätiologie, der Begriff und die Prophylaxis des Kindbettfiebers, 1861 (front page)

  • Yearly mortality rates 1784-1849

    In his 1861 book, Semmelweis presented evidence to demonstrate that the advent of pathological anatomy in Wien (Vienna) in 1823 (vertical line) was accompanied by the increased incidence of fatal childbed fever. The second vertical line marks introduction of chlorine hand washing in 1847. Rates for the Dublin Rotunda maternity hospital, which had no pathological anatomy, are shown for comparison (view rates).

  • Ignaz Semmelweis 1862 Open letter

    Semmelweis's 1862 Open Letter to all Professors of Obstetrics

  • A Petri dish containing a red growth medium, and subdivided into three sectors, labeled A, B and C, respectively. There is much visible microbial growth in culture A, some growth in culture B, and virtually no growth in culture C.

    Microbial cultures demonstrating the effectiveness of disinfection — without disinfection procedures (A), after washing hands with soap (B) and after disinfection with alcohol (C)

  • At left, the obverse of a golden coin depicts a bust of Semmelweis as an old man, accompanied by the rod of Asclepius; it bears the inscription "IGNAZ PHILLIP SEMMELWEIS 1818 1865 50 EURO 2008 REPUBLIK ÖSTERREICH". At right, the reverse of the same coin depicts a birds-eye view of the General Hospital in Vienna, inscribed with the text "ALLGEMEINES KRANKENHAUS WIEN"; this face is inset with a tableau of a doctor and student disinfecting their hands.

    2008 Austrian commemorative coin picturing Semmelweis (€50 gold coin)

  • Semmelweis Ignác emlékmű, Stróbl Alajos, 1904-06

    Statue of Semmelweis in front of Szent Rókus Hospital, Budapest, Hungary (erected in 1904, work of Alajos Stróbl)

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