Ignaz Semmelweis

Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis (German: [ˈɪɡnaːts ˈfɪlɪp ˈzɛml̩vaɪs]; Hungarian: Semmelweis Ignác Fülöp [ˈsɛm(ː)ɛlvɛjs ˈiɡnaːts ˈfyløp]; 1 July 1818 – 13 August 1865) was a Hungarian medical doctor and scientist of German descent who was an early pioneer of antiseptic procedures, known as the "saviour of mothers". Postpartum infection, also known as puerperal fever or childbed fever, was common in the 19th century, and often fatal. Semmelweis demonstrated that the incidence of infection could be drastically reduced by requiring healthcare workers in obstetrical clinics to disinfect their hands. In 1847, he proposed hand washing with chlorinated lime solutions at Vienna General Hospital's First Obstetrical Clinic, where doctors' wards had thrice the mortality of midwives' wards. The maternal mortality rate dropped from 18% to less than 2%, and he published a book of his findings, Etiology, Concept and Prophylaxis of Childbed Fever, in 1861.

Despite his research, Semmelweis's observations conflicted with the established scientific views of the time, and his ideas were rejected by the medical community. He could not offer a theoretical explanation for his findings of reduced mortality due to hand washing; additionally, some doctors were offended by the suggestion that they should wash their hands, and mocked him for it. In 1865, the increasingly outspoken Semmelweis purportedly suffered a nervous breakdown and was committed to an asylum by his colleagues. In the asylum, he was beaten by the guards. He died 14 days later from a gangrenous wound on his right hand that may have been caused by the beating.

Semmelweis's findings only gained widespread acceptance years after his death, when Louis Pasteur confirmed the germ theory of disease, giving Semmelweis's observations a scientific explanation, and Joseph Lister, acting on Pasteur's research, pioneered antiseptic surgical methods with great success.