Editing Ignaz Semmelweis

{{Short description|Early pioneer of antiseptic procedures}}
{{redirect|Semmelweis|the films|Semmelweis (1940 film)|and|Semmelweis (1952 film)}}
{{Hungarian name|Semmelweis Ignác Fülöp}}
{{Use shortened footnotes|date=May 2020}}

{{use dmy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox scientist
| image             = Borsos & Doctor Semmelweis Ignác cropped.jpg
| alt               = An engraved portrait of Semmelweis: a mustachioed, balding man in formal attire, pictured from the chest up.
| caption           = Semmelweis, aged 42 in 1860, photograph by [[József Borsos|Borsos]] and Doctor
| birth_name        = Semmelweis Ignác Fülöp
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1818|7|1|df=y}}
| birth_place       = [[Buda]], [[Kingdom of Hungary (1526–1867)|Hungary]], [[Austrian Empire]]<br>(now [[Budapest]], Hungary)
| death_date        = {{death date and age|1865|8|13|1818|7|1|df=y}}
| death_place       = [[Oberdöbling]], Austrian Empire (now [[Vienna]], Austria)
| citizenship       = [[Kingdom of Hungary]]
| nationality       =
| field             = [[Obstetrics]], [[surgeries]]
| module            = {{Infobox person
| child             = yes
| spouse            = {{marriage|Mária Weidenhofer|1857}}{{sfn|Ataman|Vatanoğlu-Lutz|Yıldırım|2013|pp=35–39}}
| children          = 5}}
| work_institutions = [[Vienna General Hospital]], Szent Rókus Kórház
| alma_mater        = [[University of Vienna]]
| known_for         = Introducing hand disinfection standards, in [[Obstetrics|obstetrical]] clinics, from 1847
}}

'''Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis''' ({{IPA|de|ˈɪɡnaːts ˈzɛml̩vaɪs|lang}}; {{langx|hu|Semmelweis Ignác Fülöp}} {{IPA|hu|ˈsɛmmɛlvɛjs ˈiɡnaːts ˈfyløp|}}; 1 July 1818 – 13 August 1865) was a Hungarian physician and scientist of German descent who was an early pioneer of [[antiseptic]] procedures and was described as the "saviour of mothers".{{sfn|Semmelweis Society International}} [[Postpartum infections|Postpartum infection]], also known as puerperal fever or childbed fever, consists of any bacterial infection of the reproductive tract following birth and in the 19th century was common and often fatal.  Semmelweis discovered that the incidence of infection could be drastically reduced by requiring healthcare workers in [[Obstetrics|obstetrical]] clinics to disinfect their hands. In 1847, he proposed hand washing with [[calcium hypochlorite|chlorinated lime solutions]] at [[Vienna General Hospital]]'s First Obstetrical Clinic, where doctors' wards had three times the mortality of [[Midwifery|midwives']] wards.{{sfn|Hanninen|Farago|Monos|1983}} 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 and medical opinions of the time and his ideas were rejected by the medical community. He could offer no theoretical explanation for his findings of reduced mortality due to hand-washing, and some doctors were offended at the suggestion that they should wash their hands and mocked him for it. In 1865, the increasingly outspoken Semmelweis allegedly suffered a [[nervous breakdown]] and was committed to an [[psychiatric hospital|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.{{sfn|Carter|Carter|2005|pp=76–78}}

His findings earned widespread acceptance only years after his death, when [[Louis Pasteur]] confirmed the [[germ theory of disease|germ theory]], giving Semmelweis' observations a theoretical explanation, and [[Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister|Joseph Lister]], acting on Pasteur's research, practised and operated using hygienic methods with great success.

==Family and early life==
[[File:Semmelweis Ignác szülei.jpg|thumb|300px|alt=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.|Theresia Müller and Joseph Semmelweis, the parents of Ignaz Semmelweis]]
[[File:Semmelweis Ignác Landau Lénárd.jpg|thumb|right|alt=A painted portrait of a boy in a black coat and a red shirt, holding a book in his right hand.|Child portrait of Semmelweis, 1830]]

Ignaz Semmelweis was born on 1 July 1818 in the [[Tabán]] neighbourhood of [[Buda]], [[Kingdom of Hungary (1526–1867)|Kingdom of Hungary]],{{sfn |Péter |2012 |p=7}}{{efn-ua|Hungary was officially recognized as "(an independent kingdom) within the Habsburg Monarchy". Orsolya Szakaly, "Opportunity or Threat? Napoleon and the Hungarian Estates", in ''Collaboration and Resistance in Napoleonic Europe'', Michael Rowe (ed.), Palgrave Macmillan 2003 {{ISBN|978-0-333-98454-3}}}} [[Austrian Empire]]. He was the fifth child out of 10 of the prosperous [[grocer]] family of József Semmelweis and Teréz Müller.

Of [[Germans of Hungary|German]] ancestry, his father was an ethnic German born in Kismarton, in the [[Kingdom of Hungary]] (now [[Eisenstadt]], [[Austria]]), and his mother an ethnic German from [[Buda]]. József Semmelweis was granted citizenship in Buda in 1806 and, in the same year, he opened a wholesale business for spices and general consumer goods.{{efn-ua|Translated from: Spezereien- und Kolonialwarengroßhandlung{{Clarify|date=October 2008}}}} The company was named ''Zum weißen Elefanten'' (At the White Elephant) in the Meindl House (today's [[Semmelweis Museum of Medical History]], located at 1–3 Apród Street, [[Budapest]]).{{sfn|Baum|2018|p=11}}{{sfn|Semmelweis Orvostörténeti Múzeum}} By 1810, he was a wealthy man and married Teréz Müller, daughter of the coachbuilder Fülöp Müller.{{sfn|Antall|Szebellédy|1973}}

Ignaz began studying law at the [[University of Vienna]] in the autumn of 1837, but switched to medicine. He was awarded his doctor of medicine degree in 1844. After failing to obtain an appointment in a clinic for internal medicine, Semmelweis specialized in obstetrics.{{sfn|Semmelweis|1983|p=16}} His teachers included [[Carl von Rokitansky]], [[Joseph Škoda]], and [[Ferdinand Ritter von Hebra|Ferdinand von Hebra]].

== Work on cause of child bed fever mortality ==
=== Position at Vienna General Hospital ===
Semmelweis was appointed assistant to Professor [[Johann Klein]] in the First Obstetrical Clinic of the [[Vienna General Hospital]] on 1 July 1846.{{sfn|Benedek|1983|p=72}}{{sfnm|1a1=Semmelweis|1y=1983|1p=34|2a1=Schmidt|2y=1850|2p=501}}{{efn-ua|Details: On 1 July 1844 Semmelweis became a trainee physician's assistant at the Vienna maternity clinic (in German, ''Aspirant Assistentarztes an der Wiener Geburtshilflichen Klinik'') and on 1 July 1846 he was appointed an ordinary physician's assistant (in German, ''ordentlicher Assistentarzt''). On 20 October 1846, his predecessor [[Franz Breit (obstetrician)|Franz Breit]] (an obstetrician) returned and Semmelweis was demoted. By 20 March 20 1847, Breit was appointed professor in [[Tübingen]] and Semmelweis resumed the ''Assistentarzt'' position.{{sfn|Benedek|1983|p=72}}}}

Two maternity clinics were at the Viennese hospital. The First Clinic had an average [[Maternal bond|maternal]] [[mortality rate]] of about 10% due to puerperal fever. The Second Clinic's rate averaged less than 4%. Women begged to be admitted to the Second Clinic, due to the reputation of the First Clinic.{{sfn|Semmelweis|1983|p=69}} Semmelweis described desperate women begging on their knees not to be admitted to the First Clinic.{{sfn|Semmelweis|1983|p=70}}

Women began purposefully giving birth in the streets, pretending to have given birth ''en route'' to the hospital so they could avoid being admitted to the clinic where the risk of infection, birth complications and death were substantially higher. 

Semmelweis was puzzled that puerperal fever was rare among women giving street births, prompting his curiosity as to what protected those who delivered outside the clinic.{{sfn|Semmelweis|1983|p=81}}

=== Analysis of child bed fever mortality ===

Troubled by the mortality discrepancy between the two clinics, Semmelweis searched for differences. He excluded overcrowding as a cause since the Second Clinic was always more crowded.{{sfn|Semmelweis|1983|p=86}} He eliminated climate because the two clinics were in close geographical proximity to each other. He altered the position in which mothers gave birth and proposed that priests giving last rites in the clinic was terrifying women after birth causing them to develop the fever.{{sfn|Semmelweis|1983|p=46}}

[[File:Yearly mortality rates 1841-1846 two clinics.png|thumb|right|500px|[[Puerperal fever]] mortality rates for the First and Second Clinics at the Vienna General Hospital 1841–1846.]]
{|class="wikitable"<!--generated with [[:de:Wikipedia:Helferlein/VBA-Macro for EXCEL tableconversion]] V1.7-->
|+ [[Puerperal fever]] mortality rates for the First and Second Clinic at the Vienna General Hospital 1841–1846.
|- style="vertical-align:bottom;"
|style="height:13px; width:63px; |&nbsp;
|colspan="3" style="width:55px; text-align:center; |First clinic
|style="width:26px; |&nbsp;
|colspan="3" style="width:55px; text-align:center; |Second clinic
|- style="text-align:right; vertical-align:bottom;"
|style="height:13px;|Year
|Births
|Deaths
|Rate (%)
|&nbsp;
|Births
|Deaths
|Rate (%)
|- style="text-align:right; vertical-align:bottom;"
|style="height:13px;|1841
|3,036
|237
|7.8
|&nbsp;
|2,442
|86
|3.5
|- style="text-align:right; vertical-align:bottom;"
|style="height:13px;|1842
|3,287
|518
|15.8
|&nbsp;
|2,659
|202
|7.6
|- style="text-align:right; vertical-align:bottom;"
|style="height:13px;|1843
|3,060
|274
|9.0
|&nbsp;
|2,739
|164
|6.0
|- style="text-align:right; vertical-align:bottom;"
|style="height:13px;|1844
|3,157
|260
|8.2
|&nbsp;
|2,956
|68
|2.3
|- style="text-align:right; vertical-align:bottom;"
|style="height:13px;|1845
|3,492
|241
|6.9
|&nbsp;
|3,241
|66
|2.0
|- style="text-align:right; vertical-align:bottom;"
|style="height:13px;|1846
|4,010
|459
|11.4
|&nbsp;
|3,754
|105
|2.8
|}

===Theory of cadaverous poisoning===

Semmelweis' breakthrough occurred in 1847, following the death of his good friend [[Jakob Kolletschka]], who had been accidentally poked with a student's scalpel while performing a [[Autopsy|''post mortem'' examination]]. Kolletschka's autopsy showed a [[pathology]] similar to that of the women who were dying from puerperal fever. Semmelweis immediately proposed a connection between [[cadaver]]ic contamination and puerperal fever.{{sfn|Lane|Blum|Fee|2010|pp=}}

He proposed that he and the medical students carried "cadaverous particles" on their hands{{efn-ua|Semmelweis's reference to "cadaverous particles" were (in German) "''an der Hand klebende Cadavertheile''"{{sfn|Benedek|1983|page=95}}}} from the autopsy room to the patients they examined in the First Obstetrical Clinic. This explained why the student [[Midwife|midwives]] in the Second Clinic, who were not engaged in autopsies and had no contact with corpses, saw a much lower mortality rate.

The [[germ theory of disease]] had not yet been accepted in Vienna. Thus, Semmelweis concluded some unknown "cadaverous material" caused childbed fever. He instituted a policy of using a solution of chlorinated lime ([[calcium hypochlorite]]) for washing hands between autopsy work and the examination of patients. He did this because he found that this chlorinated solution worked best to remove the putrid smell of infected autopsy tissue, and thus perhaps destroyed the causal "poisonous" or contaminating "cadaveric" agent hypothetically being transmitted by this material.  The result was the mortality rate in the First Clinic declined 90% and was then comparable to that in the Second Clinic. The mortality rate in April 1847, before the new [[hand washing]] procedures were instituted, was 18.3%. The new procedures started in mid-May leading to lower rates:  June 2.2%, July 1.2%, and August 1.9%.  In two months in the year following this discovery, for the first time since the introduction of anatomical orientation, the death rate was zero.{{sfn|Ataman|Vatanoğlu-Lutz|Yıldırım|2013|pp=35–39}}

==Efforts to reduce childbed fever==
Semmelweis's hypothesis, that there was only one cause, that all that mattered was cleanliness, was extreme at the time and was largely ignored, rejected, or ridiculed. He was dismissed from the hospital for political reasons and harassed by the medical community in Vienna, being eventually forced to move to Budapest.

Semmelweis was outraged by the indifference of the medical profession and began writing open and increasingly angry letters to prominent European obstetricians, at times denouncing them as irresponsible murderers. His contemporaries, including his wife, believed he was losing his mind, and in 1865, nearly 20 years after his breakthrough, he was committed to the ''Landesirrenanstalt [[Döbling]]'' (provincial lunatic asylum). He died there of [[Sepsis|septic shock]] only 14 days later, possibly as the result of being severely beaten by guards. Semmelweis's practice earned widespread acceptance only years after his death when [[Louis Pasteur]] further developed the germ theory of disease, offering a theoretical explanation for Semmelweis's findings. He is considered a pioneer of antiseptic procedures.

===Conflict with established medical opinion===
{{Main|Contemporary reaction to Ignaz Semmelweis}}
[[File:Monthly mortality rates 1841-1849.png|thumb|500px|[[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 [[Historical mortality rates of puerperal fever#Monthly mortality rates for birthgiving women 1841–1849|(see rates)]].]]

Semmelweis's observations conflicted with the established scientific and medical opinions of the time. The theory of diseases was highly influenced by ideas of an imbalance of the basic "[[Humorism|four humours]]" in the body, a theory known as [[dyscrasia]], for which the main treatment was [[bloodletting]]s. Medical texts at the time emphasized that each case of disease was unique, the result of a personal imbalance, and the main difficulty of the medical profession was to establish precisely each patient's unique situation, case by case.

The findings from autopsies of deceased women also showed a confusing multitude of physical signs, which emphasized the belief that puerperal fever was not one, but many different, yet unidentified, diseases.

The rejection of Semmelweis's empirical observations is often traced to [[belief perseverance]], the psychological tendency of clinging to discredited beliefs. Also, some historians of science{{sfn|Nissani|1995|pp=165–183}} argue that resistance to path-breaking contributions of obscure scientists is common and "constitutes the single most formidable block to scientific advances."

As a result, his ideas were rejected by the medical community. Other, more subtle, factors may also have played a role. Some doctors, for instance, were offended at the suggestion that they should wash their hands, feeling that their social status as gentlemen was inconsistent with the idea that their hands could be unclean.{{sfn|Carter|Carter|2005|p=9}}{{efn-ua|See for instance [[Charles Delucena Meigs]], in which there is a link to an original source document.}}

Semmelweis's results lacked scientific explanation at the time. That became possible only in the 1860s and 1870s, when [[Louis Pasteur]], [[Joseph Lister]], and others further developed the germ theory of disease.

During 1848, Semmelweis widened the scope of his washing protocol, to include all instruments coming in contact with patients in labour, and used mortality rates [[time series]] to document his success in virtually eliminating puerperal fever from the hospital ward.

===Hesitant publication of results and first signs of trouble===
[[File:Streptococcus pyogenes.jpg|right|thumb|''[[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.]]
Toward the end of 1847, accounts of the work of Semmelweis (as well as the similar conclusions of [[Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.]], working in the United States of America){{sfn|Lane|Blum|Fee|2010}} began to spread around Europe. Semmelweis and his students wrote letters to the directors of several prominent maternity clinics describing their recent observations. [[Ferdinand Ritter von Hebra|Ferdinand von Hebra]], the editor of a leading Austrian medical journal, announced Semmelweis's discovery in the December 1847{{sfn|Hebra|1847}} and April 1848{{sfn|Hebra|1848}} issues of the medical journal. Hebra claimed that Semmelweis's work had a practical significance comparable to that of [[Edward Jenner]]'s introduction of cowpox inoculations to prevent smallpox.{{sfn|Carter|Carter|2005|pp=54–55}}

In late 1848, one of Semmelweis's former students wrote a lecture explaining Semmelweis's work. The lecture was presented before the [[Royal Medical and Surgical Society]] in London and a review published in ''[[The Lancet]]'', a prominent medical journal.{{efn-ua|The author of the lecture was Charles Henry Felix Routh, but it was delivered by Edward William Murphy since Routh was not a Fellow of the Royal Medical and Surgical Society. (Lecture: ''On the Causes of the Endemic Puerperal Fever of Vienna'', Medico-chirurgical Transactions 32(1849): 27–40. Review: Lancet 2(1848): 642f.) For a list of some other reviews, see Frank P. Murphy, "Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis (1818–1865): An Annotated Bibliography," Bulletin of the History of Medicine 20 (1946), 653–707: 654f.{{sfn|Semmelweis|1983|p=175}}}} A few months later, another of Semmelweis's former students published a similar essay in a French periodical.{{sfn|Wieger|1849}}

As accounts of the dramatic reduction in mortality rates in Vienna were being circulated throughout Europe, Semmelweis had reason to expect that the chlorine washings would be widely adopted, saving tens of thousands of lives. Early responses to his work also gave clear signs of coming trouble, however. Some physicians had clearly misinterpreted his claims.{{Who|Simpson is not an example|date=January 2021}} Additionally, initial responses to Semmelweis's findings tended to downplay their significance by arguing that ''he had said nothing new''.{{sfn|Semmelweis|1983|p=31}} [[James Young Simpson]], for instance, saw no difference between Semmelweis's groundbreaking findings and the idea presented in an 1843 paper by Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.{{sfn|Holmes|1842}} that childbed fever was contagious (''i.e''. that infected persons could pass the infection to others).{{sfn|Semmelweis|1983|pp=10–12}}

In fact, Semmelweis was warning against all decaying organic matter, not just against a specific contagion that originated from victims of childbed fever themselves. This misunderstanding, and others like it, occurred partly because Semmelweis's work was known only through secondhand reports written by his colleagues and students. At this crucial stage, Semmelweis himself had published nothing. These and similar misinterpretations continued to cloud discussions of his work throughout the century.{{sfn|Carter|Carter|2005|p=56}}

Some accounts emphasize that Semmelweis refused to communicate his method officially to the learned circles of Vienna,{{sfn|Reid|1975|p=37}} nor was he eager to explain it on paper.

===Political turmoil and dismissal from the Vienna hospital===
In 1848, [[Revolutions of 1848|a series of tumultuous revolutions]] swept across Europe. The resulting political turmoil would affect Semmelweis's career. In Vienna on 13 March 1848, students demonstrated in favor of increased [[civil rights]], including trial by jury and [[freedom of expression]]. The demonstrations were led by medical students and young faculty members and were joined by workers from the suburbs. Two days later in Hungary, demonstrations and uprisings led to the [[Hungarian Revolution of 1848]] and a full-scale war against the ruling [[House of Habsburg|Habsburgs]] of the [[Austrian Empire]]. In Vienna, the March demonstration was followed by months of general unrest.{{sfn|Carter|Carter|2005|p=57}}

No evidence indicates Semmelweis was personally involved in the events of 1848. Some of his brothers were punished for active participation in the Hungarian independence movement, and the Hungarian-born Semmelweis likely was sympathetic to the cause. Semmelweis's superior, professor [[Johann Klein]], was a conservative Austrian, likely uneasy with the independence movements and alarmed by the other [[revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas]]. Klein probably mistrusted Semmelweis.{{sfn|Carter|Carter|2005|p=59}}

When Semmelweis's term was about to expire, [[Carl Braun (obstetrician)|Carl Braun]] also applied for the position of "assistant" in the First Clinic, possibly at Klein's own invitation. Semmelweis and Braun were the only two applicants for the post. Semmelweis's predecessor, [[Franz Breit (obstetrician)|Franz Breit]], had been granted a two-year extension.{{sfn|Semmelweis|1983|pp=61, 105}} Semmelweis's application for an extension was supported by [[Joseph Škoda]] and [[Carl Freiherr von Rokitansky|Carl von Rokitansky]] and by most of the medical faculty, but Klein chose Braun for the position. Semmelweis was obliged to leave the obstetrical clinic when his term expired on 20 March 1849.{{sfn|Carter|Carter|2005|p=61}}

The day his term expired, Semmelweis petitioned the Viennese authorities to be made [[Privatdozent|docent]] of obstetrics. A docent was a private lecturer who taught students and who had access to some university facilities. At first, because of Klein's opposition, Semmelweis's petition was denied. He reapplied, but had to wait until 10 October 1850 (more than 18 months), before finally being appointed docent of 'theoretical' obstetrics.{{sfn|Semmelweis|1983|p=105}} The terms refused him access to cadavers and limited him to teaching students by using leather-fabricated [[mannequin]]s only. A few days after being notified of his appointment, Semmelweis left Vienna abruptly and returned to [[Pest, Hungary|Pest]]. He apparently left without so much as saying goodbye to his former friends and colleagues, a move that might have offended them.{{sfn|Semmelweis|1983|p=52}} According to his own account, he left Vienna because he was "unable to endure further frustrations in dealing with the Viennese medical establishment".{{sfn|Carter|Carter|2005|p=67}}

===Life in Budapest===
[[File:Semmelweis Ignác és felesége 1857 Canzi Ágost.jpg|thumb|300px|Wedding portraits of Semmelweis and Mária Weidenhofer by [[:de:August Canzi|Ágost Canzi]] (1857)]]
During 1848–1849, some {{nowrap|70,000}} troops from the [[Habsburg]]-ruled [[Austrian Empire]] thwarted the [[Hungarian Revolution of 1848|Hungarian independence movement]], executed or imprisoned its leaders and in the process destroyed parts of [[Pest, Hungary|Pest]]. Semmelweis, upon arriving from the Habsburg Vienna in 1850, likely was not warmly welcomed in Pest.

On 20 May 1851, Semmelweis took the relatively insignificant, unpaid, honorary head-physician position of the obstetric ward of Pest's small [[Saint Roch|Szent Rókus]] Hospital. He held that position for six years, until June 1857.{{sfnm|1a1=Semmelweis|1y=1983|p=107|2a1=Carter|2a2=Carter|2y=2005|2p=68}} Childbed fever was rampant at the clinic; at a visit in 1850, just after returning to Pest, Semmelweis found one fresh corpse, another patient in severe agony, and four others seriously ill with the disease. After taking over in 1851, Semmelweis virtually eliminated the disease. During 1851–1855, only eight patients died from childbed fever out of 933 births (0.85%).{{sfn|Semmelweis|1983|pp=106–108}}

Despite the impressive results, Semmelweis's ideas were not accepted by the other obstetricians in Budapest.{{sfn|Carter|Carter|2005|p=69}} The professor of obstetrics at the [[University of Pest]], [[Ede Flórián Birly]], never adopted Semmelweis's methods. He continued to believe that puerperal fever was due to uncleanliness of the bowel.{{sfn|Semmelweis|1983|p=24}} Therefore, extensive purging was the preferred treatment.

After Birly died in 1854, Semmelweis applied for the position. So did Carl Braun—Semmelweis's nemesis and successor as [[Johann Klein]]'s assistant in Vienna—and Braun received more votes from his Hungarian colleagues than Semmelweis did. Semmelweis was eventually appointed in 1855, but only because the Viennese authorities overruled the wishes of the Hungarians, as Braun did not speak Hungarian. As professor of obstetrics, Semmelweis instituted chlorine washings at the University of Pest [[Maternity hospital|maternity clinic]]. Once again, the results were impressive.{{sfn|Carter|Carter|2005|p=69}}

Semmelweis declined an offer in 1857 to become professor of obstetrics at the [[University of Zurich]].{{sfn|Semmelweis|1983|p=56}} The same year, Semmelweis married Mária Weidenhofer (1837–1910), 19 years his junior and the daughter of a successful merchant in Pest. They had five children.

===Response by the medical community===
{{Main|Contemporary reaction to Ignaz Semmelweis|}}
[[File:Ignaz Semmelweis 1861 Etiology front page.jpg|thumb|right|Semmelweis's main work: ''Die Ätiologie, der Begriff und die Prophylaxis des Kindbettfiebers'', 1861 (front page)]]
[[File:Yearly mortality rates 1784-1849.png|thumb|500px|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 Hospital|Rotunda maternity hospital]], which had no pathological anatomy, are shown for comparison ([[Historical mortality rates of puerperal fever#Yearly mortality rates for birthgiving women 1784–1849|view rates]]).]]
Semmelweis's views were much more favorably received in the [[United Kingdom]] than on the continent, but he was more often cited than understood. The British consistently regarded Semmelweis as having supported their theory of contagion. A typical example was W. Tyler Smith, who claimed that Semmelweis "made out very conclusively" that "[[Homeopathy|miasms]] derived from the dissecting room will excite puerperal disease."{{sfnm|1a1=Semmelweis|1y=1983|1p=176|2a1=Tyler Smith|2y=1856|2p=504}} One of the first to respond to Semmelweis's 1848 communications was [[James Young Simpson]], who wrote a stinging letter. Simpson surmised that the British obstetrical literature must be totally unknown in Vienna, or Semmelweis would have known that the British had long regarded childbed fever as contagious and would have employed chlorine washing to protect against it.{{sfn|Semmelweis|1983|p=174}}

In 1856, Semmelweis's assistant Josef Fleischer reported the successful results of hand washing activities at St. Rochus and Pest maternity institutions in the'' Viennese Medical Weekly ''(''[[Wiener Medizinische Wochenschrift]]'').{{sfn|Carter|Carter|2005|p=69}} The editor remarked sarcastically that it was time people stopped being misled about the theory of chlorine washings.{{sfnm|1a1=Semmelweis|1y=1983|1p=24|2a1=Fleischer|2y=1856|2p=536}} Two years later, Semmelweis published his own account of his work in an essay entitled "The Etiology of Childbed Fever".{{efn-ua|The report was "''A gyermekágyi láz kóroktana''" ("The Etiology of Childbed Fever") published in ''Orvosi hetilap'' '''2''' (1858); a translation into German is included in Tiberius von Györy's, ''Semmelweis's gesammelte Werke'' (Jena: Gustav Fischer, 1905), 61–83. This was Semmelweis's first publication on the subject of puerperal fever. According to Győry, the substance of the report was contained in lectures delivered before the ''Budapester Königliche Ârzteverein'' in the spring of 1858.{{sfn|Semmelweis|1983|p=112}}}} Two years after that, he published a second essay, "The Difference in Opinion between Myself and the English Physicians regarding Childbed Fever".{{efn-ua|The article was originally published as: Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis, "A gyermekágyi láz fölötti véleménykülönbség köztem s az angol orvosok közt" Orvosi hetilap '''4''' (1860), 849–851, 873–876, 889–893, 913–915.{{sfn|Semmelweis|1983|p=24}}}} In 1861, Semmelweis published his main work ''Die Ätiologie, der Begriff und die Prophylaxis des Kindbettfiebers'' (German for "The Etiology, Concept and Prophylaxis of Childbed Fever").{{efn-ua|[http://real-eod.mtak.hu/2450/ Digital copy of Semmelweis' book]}} In his 1861 book, Semmelweis lamented the slow adoption of his ideas: "Most medical lecture halls continue to resound with lectures on epidemic childbed fever and with discourses against my theories. [...] In published medical works my teachings are either ignored or attacked. The medical faculty at Würzburg awarded a prize to a monograph written in 1859 in which my teachings were rejected".{{sfn|Semmelweis|1983|p=169}}{{efn-ua|The monograph to which Semmelweis refers was a work by Heinrich Silberschmidt, "Historisch-kritische Darstellung der Pathologie des Kindbettfiebers von den ältesten Zeiten bis auf die unserige", published 1859 in [[Erlangen]], which mentions Semmelweis only incidentally and without dealing at all with the transfer of toxic materials by the hands of physicians and midwives. The book was awarded a prize by the medical faculty of Würzburg at the instigation of [[Friedrich Wilhelm Scanzoni von Lichtenfels]]{{sfnm|1a1=Hauzman|1y=2006|2a1=Semmelweis|2y=1983|2p=212}}}}

In a textbook, Carl Braun, Semmelweis's successor as assistant in the first clinic, identified 30 causes of childbed fever; only the 28th of these was cadaverous infection. Other supposed causes included conception and pregnancy, uremia, pressure exerted on adjacent organs by the shrinking uterus, emotional traumata, mistakes in diet, chilling, and atmospheric epidemic influences.{{sfn|Braun|1857}}{{efn-ua|Carl Braun's thirty causes appear in his ''Lehrbuch der Geburtshülfe''. In the first of these, published in 1855, he mentions Semmelweis in connection with his discussion of cause number 28, cadaverous poisoning. In the later version, however, although he discusses the same cause in the same terms, all references to Semmelweis have been dropped.{{sfn|Semmelweis|1983|p=34}}}}

Despite this opposition, Braun, who was Assistant in the First Division in the period April 1849 to summer 1853, maintained a relatively low mortality rate in the First Division, roughly consistent with the rate Semmelweis himself achieved, as [[Historical mortality rates of puerperal fever#Mortality rates at the Vienna General Hospital|mortality rates]] in the period April 1849 to end 1853 show. These results suggest that Braun continued, assiduously, to require the chlorine washings.{{sfn|Jadraque|Carter|2017}}

At a conference of German physicians and [[natural scientist]]s, most of the speakers rejected his doctrine, including the celebrated [[Rudolf Virchow]], who was a scientist of the highest authority of his time. Virchow's great authority in medical circles contributed potently to Semmelweis' lack of recognition.{{sfn|Hauzman|2006}} [[Ede Flórián Birly]], Semmelweis's predecessor as Professor of Obstetrics at the University of Pest, never accepted Semmelweis's teachings; he continued to believe that puerperal fever was due to uncleanliness of the bowel.{{sfn|Semmelweis|1983|p=4}} [[August Breisky]], an obstetrician in Prague, rejected Semmelweis's book as "naïve" and he referred to it as "the Koran of puerperal theology". Breisky objected that Semmelweis had not proved that puerperal fever and [[pyemia]] are identical, and he insisted that other factors beyond decaying organic matter certainly had to be included in the [[etiology]] of the disease.{{sfnm|1a1=Semmelweis|1y=1983|1p=41|2a1=Breisky|2y=1861|2p=1}} [[Carl Edvard Marius Levy]], head of the Copenhagen maternity hospital and an outspoken critic of Semmelweis's ideas, had reservations concerning the unspecific nature of cadaverous particles and that the supposed quantities were unreasonably small.{{sfnm|Semmelweis|1983|pp=180–181|Levy|1848}} In fact, [[Robert Koch]] later used precisely this fact to prove that various infecting materials contained living organisms which could reproduce in the human body; that is, since the poison could be neither chemical nor physical in operation, it must be biological.{{sfn|Semmelweis|1983|p=183}}

It has been contended that Semmelweis could have had an even greater impact if he had managed to communicate his findings more effectively and avoid antagonising the medical establishment, even given the opposition from entrenched viewpoints.{{sfn|Nuland|2003}}

==Breakdown and death==
[[File:Ignaz Semmelweis 1862 Open letter.jpg|thumb|Semmelweis's 1862 ''Open Letter to all Professors of Obstetrics'']]
[[File:Semmelweis Ignác 1864.jpg|thumb|right|The last photograph of Ignaz Semmelweis from 1864]]
After a number of unfavorable foreign reviews of his 1861 book, Semmelweis lashed out against his critics in a series of open letters.{{efn-ua|The 1862 open letter is available at the  {{URL|1=http://www.literature.at/viewer.alo?viewmode=overview&objid=13184&page= |2=Austrian national library}} website.}} They were addressed to various prominent European obstetricians, including [[Joseph Späth|Späth]], [[Friedrich Wilhelm Scanzoni von Lichtenfels|Scanzoni]], [[Eduard Caspar Jacob von Siebold|Siebold]], and to "all obstetricians". They were "highly polemical and superlatively offensive", at times denouncing his critics as irresponsible murderers or ignoramuses.{{sfn|Semmelweis|1983|p=57}}{{sfn|Carter|Carter|2005|p=73}}{{sfn|Semmelweis|1983|p=41}} He also called upon Siebold to arrange a meeting of German obstetricians somewhere in Germany to provide a forum for discussions on puerperal fever, where he would stay "until all have been converted to his theory."{{sfn|Hauzman|2006}}

In mid-1865, his public behaviour became exasperating and embarrassing to his associates. He also began to drink immoderately; he spent progressively more time away from his family, sometimes in the company of a prostitute; and his wife noticed changes in his sexual behavior. On 13 July 1865, the Semmelweis family visited friends, and during the visit, Semmelweis's behavior seemed particularly inappropriate.{{sfn|Carter|Carter|2005|p=74}}

Semmelweis's alleged affliction has been a subject of some debate. According to K. Codell Carter, in his biography of Semmelweis, its exact nature cannot be determined:<blockquote>It is impossible to appraise the nature of Semmelweis's disorder. ... It might have been [[Alzheimer's disease]], a type of dementia, which is associated with rapid cognitive decline and mood changes.{{sfn|Nuland|2003|p=270}} It might have been third-stage [[syphilis]], a then-common disease of obstetricians who examined thousands of women at gratis institutions, or it might have been emotional exhaustion from overwork and stress.{{sfn|Carter|Carter|2005|p=75}}</blockquote>In 1865, [[János Balassa]] wrote a document referring Semmelweis to a mental institution. On 30 July, [[Ferdinand Ritter von Hebra]] lured him, under the pretense of visiting one of Hebra's "new Institutes", to a Viennese insane asylum located in Lazarettgasse (''Landes-Irren-Anstalt in der Lazarettgasse'').{{sfn|Benedek|1983|p=293}} Semmelweis surmised what was happening and tried to leave. He was severely beaten by several guards, secured in a [[straitjacket]], and confined to a darkened cell. Apart from the straitjacket, treatments at the [[mental institution]] included dousing with cold water and administering [[castor oil]], a [[laxative]]. He died after two weeks, on 13 August 1865, aged 47, from a [[gangrene|gangrenous]] wound, due to an infection on his right hand which might have been caused by the struggle. The autopsy gave the cause of death as [[pyemia]]—[[blood poisoning]].{{sfn|Carter|Carter|2005|pp=76–78}}

Semmelweis was buried in Vienna on 15 August 1865. Only a few people attended the service.{{sfn|Carter|Carter|2005|p=78}} Brief announcements of his death appeared in a few medical periodicals in Vienna and Budapest. Although the rules of the Hungarian Association of Physicians and Natural Scientists specified that a commemorative address be delivered in honor of a member who had died in the preceding year, there was no address for Semmelweis; his death was never even mentioned.{{sfn|Carter|Carter|2005|p=79}}

János Diescher was appointed Semmelweis's successor at the Pest University maternity clinic. Immediately, mortality rates increased sixfold to 6%, but the physicians of Budapest said nothing; there were no inquiries and no protests. Almost no one—either in Vienna or in Budapest—seems to have been willing to acknowledge Semmelweis's life and work.{{sfn|Carter|Carter|2005|p=79}}

His remains were transferred to Budapest in 1891. On 11 October 1964, they were transferred once more to the house in which he was born. The [[Semmelweis Museum of Medical History|house at 1-3 Apród utca]]{{sfn|Semmelweis Orvostörténeti Múzeum}} is now a museum of medical history, honoring Ignaz Semmelweis.{{sfn|Semmelweis|1983|p=58}}

==Legacy==
[[File:Semmelweis statue.jpg|thumb|Semmelweis statue at the [[University of Tehran]]]]
[[File:50 EURO Gold Coin - Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis - Austria.jpg|thumb|right|alt=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.|[[Euro gold and silver commemorative coins (Austria)#2008 coinage|2008 Austrian commemorative coin]] picturing Semmelweis ([[euro|€]]50 gold coin)]]
[[File:Musée d' histoire de la Médecine dit Musée Semmelweis à BUDAPEST.jpg|thumb|His birthplace, now [[Semmelweis Museum of Medical History]]]]

{{Main|Contemporary reaction to Ignaz Semmelweis}}
Semmelweis' advice on chlorine washings was probably more influential than he realized. Many doctors, particularly in Germany, appeared quite willing to experiment with the practical [[hand washing]] measures that he proposed—although virtually everyone rejected his basic and ground-breaking innovation: that the disease had only one cause, lack of cleanliness.{{sfn|Semmelweis|1983|p=48}} [[Gustav Adolf Michaelis]], a professor at a maternity institution in [[Kiel]], replied positively to Semmelweis' suggestions, but eventually committed suicide, feeling responsible for the death of his own cousin, whom he had examined after she gave birth.{{sfn|Semmelweis|1983|pp=176–178}}

Only belatedly did his observational evidence gain wide acceptance. More than twenty years later, [[Louis Pasteur]]'s work on the germ theory of disease offered a ''theoretical'' explanation for Semmelweis' observations. Consequently, the Semmelweis story is often used in university courses with [[epistemology]] content, e.g. [[philosophy of science]] courses—demonstrating the virtues of [[empiricism]] or [[positivism]] and providing a historical account of which types of knowledge count as scientific (and thus accepted) knowledge, and which do not. [[Carl Gustav Hempel|C. Hempel]], just to mention one, dedicated the first pages of his ''[[Philosophy of Natural Science]]'' to Semmelweis, arguing that the latter's method is typical of contemporary scientific research, in that the doctor framed a series of hypotheses, verifying them through [[fallibilism|falsifying]] experiments in accordance with Hempel's [[deductive-nomological model]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hempel | first1=Carl |title=Philosophy of Natural Science |publisher=Prentice-Hall, Inc. |location=Englewood Cliffs, NJ |year=1966 | isbn=978-0136638230}} § 2.1, § 2.2.</ref> It has been seen as an irony that Semmelweis' critics considered themselves positivists, but even positivism suffers problems in the face of theories which seem magical or superstitious, such as the idea that "corpse particles" might turn a person into a corpse, with no causal mechanism being stipulated, after a simple contact. To his contemporaries, Semmelweis seemed to be reverting to the speculative theories of earlier decades that were so repugnant to his positivist contemporaries.{{sfn|Semmelweis|1983|p=45}}

[[File:Semmelweis Ignác emlékmű, Stróbl Alajos, 1904-06.jpg|thumb|right|Statue of Semmelweis in front of Szent Rókus Hospital, Budapest, Hungary (erected in 1904, work of [[Alajos Stróbl]])]]

Because his ideas were ridiculed and rejected by his contemporaries, the trait of human behaviour characterized by an automatic rejection of new knowledge because it contradicts entrenched norms, beliefs or paradigms, has been called the [[Semmelweis reflex]].

Other legacies of Semmelweis include:
* Semmelweis is now recognized as a pioneer of [[antiseptic]] policy.
* [[Semmelweis University]], a university for medicine and health-related disciplines, located in [[Budapest, Hungary]].
* The [[Semmelweis Museum of Medical History]] is located in the house where he was born.{{sfn|Semmelweis Orvostörténeti Múzeum}}
* The Semmelweis Klinik, a hospital for women located in Vienna, Austria.
* The Semmelweis Hospital in [[Miskolc]], Hungary.
* The Semmelweis Hospital in Kiskunhalas, Hungary.{{sfn |''Kiskunhalasi Semmelweis Kórház''}}
* In 2008, an image of Semmelweis was selected as the [[obverse and reverse|obverse]] of an Austrian [[Euro gold and silver commemorative coins (Austria)#2008 coinage|commemorative coin]].{{sfn|Muenze Oesterreich AG|2017}}
* Minor planet [[4170 Semmelweis]] is named after him.
* A postage stamp was issued by Hungary on 1 July 1932 in the "Famous Hungarians" series: ''Stamp:Ignác Semmelweis (1818~1865), physician''
* A postage stamp was issued by Hungary on 5 December 1954 in the "Scientists" series.
* Inclusion as a [[Google Doodle]], beginning on 20 March 2020, to promote handwashing during the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].{{sfn |''Google'' |2020}}{{sfn |Musil |2020}}
* The Ignác Semmelweis Prize, the most prestigious Hungarian medical award.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://m.hvg.hu/tudomany/20210525_kariko_katalin_semmelweis_dij|title=Karikó Katalin megkapta a legrangosabb magyar orvosi díjat|date=25 May 2021}}</ref>
* On 13 January 2023, a [[Bust (sculpture)|bust]] of Semmelweis was unveiled at the [[Queen Mary University of London]].<ref>dteurope.com: [https://dteurope.com/news/semmelweis-statue-unveiled-at-a-medical-school-in-london/ ''Ignác Semmelweis Statue Inaugurated in London'']</ref>

===Films===
* ''[[That Mothers Might Live]]'' (1938), US, [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer|MGM]], director: [[Fred Zinnemann]]. Played by [[Shepperd Strudwick]]. Oscar for the [[Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film|best short film]]
* ''[[Semmelweis (1940 film)|Semmelweis]]'' (1940), Hungary, [[Mester Film]], director: [[André de Toth]]. Played by [[Tivadar Uray]]
* ''[[Semmelweis&nbsp;– Retter der Mütter]]'' (1950), East Germany, [[DEFA]], director: [[Georg C. Klaren]]. Played by [[Karl Paryla]]
* ''Ignaz Semmelweis: Gynecologist'' (1989), West Germany/Austria/Hungary, [[ZDF]]/[[ORF (broadcaster)|ORF]], director: [[Michael Verhoeven]]. Played by [[Heiner Lauterbach]]
* ''Semmelweis'' (1994), the Netherlands, [[Humanistische Omroep Stichting]], director: [[Floor Maas]]. Played by [[Stefan de Walle]]
* ''Docteur Semmelweis'' (1995), France/Poland, director: [[Roger Andrieux]]. Played by [[Philippe Volter]]
* ''Semmelweis'' (2001 short film), US/Austria, [[Elfi von Dassanowsky|Belvedere Film]], director: [[Jim Berry (filmmaker)|Jim Berry]], producers: [[Robert von Dassanowsky|Robert Dassanowsky]] and [[Elfi von Dassanowsky]]. Played by Fritz Michel
* ''{{ill|Semmelweis (2023 film)|hu|Semmelweis (film, 2023)|lt=Semmelweis}}'' (2023) Film Positive Productions (Budapest, Hungary), director: [[Lajos Koltai]]

===Literature===
* {{citation
|last1=Semmelweis |first1=Ignác|last2=von Györy|first2=Tiberius |title=Semmelweis's Gesammelte Werke Herausgegeben und zum Theil aus dem Ungarischen Übersetzt|trans-title=The complete published works of Semmelweis, in part published from Hungarian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oVDSUzGAU1cC|year=1905|publisher=Jena Verlag von Gustav Fischer|language=de|page=604 |ref=none}} is the classic reference, in Latin print, not the original Gothic print.
* [[Louis-Ferdinand Céline]] completed his M.D. thesis on Semmelweis in 1924. It was published as a fictionalized biography under the title ''La Vie et l'œuvre de Philippe Ignace Semmelweis'' in 1936 (English versions: ''The Life and Work of Semmelweis'', tr. by Robert Allerton Parker, Boston : Little, Brown and Company, 1937; ''Semmelweis'', tr. by John Harman, Atlas Press, 2008).
* In William Forstchen's ''[[The Lost Regiment]]'' series of novels, one of the main characters is a doctor named Emil Weiss, the regiment's surgeon.  On multiple occasions, it is mentioned that he had studied under Semmelweis and as such had developed effective sanitation techniques to avoid infection when treating injuries.
* [[Morton Thompson]]'s 1949 novel ''[[The Cry and the Covenant]]'' is a fictionalized account based on the life of Semmelweis.
* ''Motherkillers'', a novel by John Piper, based on the Semmelweis story.{{sfn|Piper|2007}}
* [[Kurt Vonnegut]] praises Semmelweis at length in his 2005 memoir, ''[[A Man Without a Country]]'', portraying his story as a tragic tale of a powerful force for good being ignored, mocked and derided in his own time. Vonnegut called him "my hero" and held his story up as a beneficial example for all mankind.
* ''Genius Belabored: Childbed Fever and the Tragic Life of Ignaz Semmelweis'', by Theodore G. Obenchain.{{sfn|Obenchain|2016}}
* {{citation|title=Semmelweis Ignác rövid boldogsága|trans-title=The Brief Happiness of Ignaz Semmelweis}}, a 2022 novel by {{ill|Péter Gárdos|hu|Gárdos Péter (filmrendező)}}, a fictionalized account of the life of Semmelweis.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jankovics |first1=Márton |title=Az is bolond, aki zsenivé lesz Magyarországon – ilyen lenne Thuróczy Szabolcs az el nem készült Semmelweis-filmben |url=https://24.hu/kultura/2022/09/26/semmelweis-ignac-rovid-boldogsaga-regeny-film-elozetes-gardos-peter-thuroczy-szabolcs-jordan-tamas/ |access-date=13 August 2024 |work=[[24.hu]] |date=26 September 2022 |language=Hungarian}}</ref>

===Drama/plays===
* ''[[An Enemy of the People]]'', drama by [[Henrik Ibsen]]. The protagonist, a doctor battling both microbes and societal rejection, is at least loosely modeled on Semmelweis. (See [[Thomas Szasz]], ''Liberation by Oppression: A Comparative Study of Slavery and Psychiatry'', Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick & London, p.&nbsp;176.)
* ''Semmelweis'', opera-theater work by Raymond J. Lustig (music) and Matthew Doherty (libretto).  Premiere production June 2018 in Miskolc, Hungary, directed by Martin Boross, featuring Szilveszter Szabó, Veronika Nádasi, and the Bela Bartok Chamber Choir of Szolnok, co-produced by Budapest Operetta Theater and Bartok Plusz Opera Festival.  Nine additional Hungarian-language performances in Budapest, and a five-city tour throughout Hungary, 2018–19.
* ''Semmelweis'' by [[Jens Bjørneboe]]. Performed in 1977 at the [[Shea's 710 Theatre|Studio Arena Theater]] in Buffalo, New York with Lewis J. Stadlen, Kathy Bates, and [[Kim Hunter]]. Performed in 1978 at the [[John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts|Kennedy Center]] in Washington, D.C., with Colin Blakeley. Performed in 1981 at the Hartman Theater in Stamford, Connecticut.
* ''What are you fighting for, Dr Semmelweis'' by Titus Alexander, 1968. Performed July 1969 at the [[Church Hill Theatre]], Edinburgh, Scotland, by pupils of the Edinburgh Rudolf Steiner School Dramatic Society, with Simon Scott as Semmelweis with music composed by Mark Edwards. Translated into German as ''Um was kämpfen Sie, Dr. Semmelweis?'' by Concilia Viegener and performed by a Steiner school in Brazil.
* ''Semmelweis'' by Peter Russell. A 90-minute play broadcast 9 August 1971 on [[BBC Radio 4]] featuring [[Sandor Eles]] in the title role.
* ''Dr Semmelweis'' a new play by [[Stephen Brown (playwright)|Stephen Brown]] with [[Mark Rylance]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Full cast announced for Mark Rylance's Dr Semmelweis at Bristol Old Vic {{!}} WhatsOnStage|url=https://www.whatsonstage.com/bristol-theatre/news/full-cast-mark-rylance-dr-semmelweis_55438.html|access-date=2022-01-09|website=www.whatsonstage.com|date=29 November 2021 |language=en-GB}}</ref> Delayed by the [[COVID-19 pandemic|COVID-19 Pandemic]] and opening at the [[Bristol Old Vic]] in January 2022.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Ltd|first=Supercool|date=2022-01-07|title=Dr Semmelweis|url=https://bristololdvic.org.uk/whats-on/dr-semmelweis|access-date=2022-01-09|website=Bristol Old Vic}}</ref> A West End run of Dr Semmelweis opened at the [[Harold Pinter Theatre]] in June 2023, again to critical acclaim with Mark Rylance in the title role.

==See also==
* [[Carl Mayrhofer]]
* [[Museum of Health Care]]
* [[Semmelweis Frauen-Klinik]]
* [[Semmelweis effect]]

==Footnotes==
{{notelist-ua}}

==References==
===Notes===
{{notelist}}
{{Reflist|25em}}

===Works cited===
{{Refbegin |60em}}
{{divcol}}
* {{citation |first1=József |last1=Antall |author1-link=József Antall |first2=Géza |last2=Szebellédy |title=Aus den Jahrhunderten der Heilkunde |publisher=Corvina Verlag |year=1973 |location=Budapest |pages=7–8}}
* {{Cite journal|pmc=3881728 |title=Medicine in stamps-Ignaz Semmelweis and Puerperal Fever|journal=Journal of the Turkish German Gynecological Association|volume=14|issue=1|pages=35–39 |publisher=US National Library of Medicine |year=2013|last1=Ataman|first1=A. D.|last2=Vatanoğlu-Lutz|first2=E. E.|last3=Yıldırım|first3=G|doi=10.5152/jtgga.2013.08|pmid=24592068}}
* {{cite book |last=Baum |first=Hermann |title=Ignaz Semmelweis Seine Vorfahren väterlicherseits und mütterlicherseits |trans-title=Ignaz Semmelweis His ancestors on the paternal and maternal side |publisher=Books on Demand |publication-place=Norderstedt |year=2018 |isbn=978-3-7481-8425-6 |oclc=1083820446 |language=de |url=https://www.bod.de/buchshop/ignaz-semmelweis-hermann-baum-9783748184256 |url-access=subscription }}
* {{citation |last1=Benedek |first1=István |title=Ignaz Phillip Semmelweis 1818–1865 |publisher=Corvina Kiadó (Translated from Hungarian to German by Brigitte Engel) |year=1983 |location=Druckerei Kner, Gyomaendrőd, Hungary |isbn=963-13-1459-6}}
* {{citation |last=Braun |first=Carl |author-link=Carl Braun (obstetrician) |title=Lehrbuch der Geburtshülfe : mit Einschluss der operativen Therapeutik, der übrigen Fortpflanzungs-Functionen der Frauen und der Puerperalprocesse |location=Vienna, Austria |publisher=Braumüller |year=1857 |url=https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/view/bsb10248059?page=5 |oclc=991553285 |language=de }}
* {{citation |first1=August |last1=Breisky |title=Semmelweis |journal=Vierteljahrschrift für die praktische Heilkunde |publisher=Literarischer Anzeiger |volume=18 |pages=1–13 |year=1861}}
* {{citation |last1=Carter |first1=K. Codell |last2=Carter |first2=Barbara R. |title=Childbed fever. A scientific biography of Ignaz Semmelweis |publisher=Transaction Publishers |year= 2005 |isbn=978-1-4128-0467-7}}
* {{citation |journal=Wiener medizinische Wochenschrift |first1=J. |last1=Fleischer |title=Statistischer Bericht der Gebärklinik an der kk. Universität zu Pest im Schuljahre 1855–56 |volume=6 |pages=534–536 |year=1856 |url=http://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno-plus?apm=0&aid=wmw&datum=18560003&seite=00000267&zoom=2 |access-date=May 11, 2008 |language=de |quote=Wir glaubten diese Chlorwaschungs-Theorie habe sich längst überlebt; die Erfahrungen und statistischen Ausweisse der meisten geburtshilflichen Anstalten protestieren gegen ubige Anschanung; es wäre an der Zeit sich von dieser Theorie nicht weiter irreführen zu lassen. }}
* {{citation |first1=O. |last1=Hanninen |first2=M. |last2=Farago |first3=E. |last3=Monos |title=Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis, the prophet of bacteriology |url=http://www.general-anaesthesia.com/semmelweis.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080404214853/http://www.general-anaesthesia.com/semmelweis.htm |archive-date=April 4, 2008 |access-date=October 26, 2009 |date=September–October 1983 |journal=Infection Control |volume=4 |pages=367–370 |quote=Only the clinical facts proved him right during his lifetime; the triumph of bacteriology which began after his death made him not only the "savior of mothers" but also a genial ancestor of bacteriology. |pmid=6354955 |issue=5 |doi=10.1017/S0195941700059762 |s2cid=25830725 }}
* {{Cite book |first1=Erik E. |last1=Hauzman |chapter=Semmelweis and his German contemporaries |title=40th International Congress on the History of Medicine, ISHM 2006 |location=Budapest, Hungary |year=2006 |url=http://www.ishm2006.hu/abstracts/files/ishmpaper_093.doc |access-date=March 24, 2009 |format=DOC |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090324225915/http://www.ishm2006.hu/abstracts/files/ishmpaper_093.doc |archive-date=March 24, 2009 }}
* {{citation |first1=Ferdinand |last1=Hebra |author-link=Ferdinand Ritter von Hebra |title=Höchst wichtige Erfahrungen über die Aetiologie der an Gebäranstalten epidemischen Puerperalfieber |journal=Zeitschrift der K.k. Gesellschaft der Ärzte zu Wien |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=242–244 |year=1847}}
* {{citation |first1=Ferdinand |last1=Hebra |author-link=Ferdinand Ritter von Hebra |title=Fortsetzung der Erfahrungen über die Aetiologie der in Gebäranstalten epidemischen Puerperalfieber |journal=Zeitschrift der K.k. Gesellschaft der Ärzte zu Wien |volume=5 |pages=64f |year=1848}}
* {{citation |last1=Hempel | first1=Carl |title=Philosophy of Natural Science |publisher=Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs New Jersey |year=1966 |page=§ 2.1, § 2.2}}
* {{citation |first1=Oliver Wendell |last1=Holmes |author-link=Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. |title=The Contagiousness of Puerperal Fever |journal=Medical Essays |volume=1882 |pages=103–172 |year=1842}}
* {{citation |title=Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809–1894) and Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis (1818–1865): Preventing the Transmission of Puerperal Fever |journal= Am J Public Health |volume=100 |issue=6 |date=June 2010 |doi=10.2105/AJPH.2009.185363 |pages=1008–1009|last1=Lane |first1=Hillary J. |last2=Blum |first2=Nava|last3=Fee |first3=Elizabeth|pmid= 20395569 |pmc=2866610 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Jadraque |first1=P. P. |last2=Carter |first2=K. C. |title=What happened at Vienna's Allgemeines Krankenhaus after Semmelweis's contract as Assistant in the First Maternity Division was terminated? |journal=Epidemiology and Infection |date=July 2017 |volume=145 |issue=10 |pages=2144–2151 |id={{ProQuest|1914446281}} |doi=10.1017/S0950268817000875 |pmid=28462740 |pmc=9203449 |doi-access=free}}
* {{cite web |title=Kiskunhalasi Semmelweis Kórház – üdvözlet a webhelyen! |trans-title=Semmelweis Hospital in Kiskunhalas - welcome to the website! |website=Kiskunhalasi Semmelweis Kórház |url=http://www.halasi-korhaz.hu/ |language=hu |ref={{sfnref |Kiskunhalasi Semmelweis Kórház}} |access-date=2020-07-15 |archive-date=2021-01-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210129010332/http://halasi-korhaz.hu/ |url-status=dead }}
* {{citation |first1=Karl Edouard Marius |last1=Levy |title=De nyeste Forsög i Födselsstiftelsen i Wien til Oplysning om Barselfeberens Aetiologie |journal=Hospitals-Meddelelser |volume=1 |pages=199–211 |year=1848}}
* {{citation |title=50 Euro&nbsp;– Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis (2008) |author=Muenze Oesterreich AG |year=2017 |url=http://www.austrian-mint.com/285?l=en&muenzeId=603 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101213023126/http://austrian-mint.com/285?l=en&muenzeId=603 |archive-date=December 13, 2010 |url-status=dead |access-date=October 27, 2009 |work=[[Austrian Mint]] website |location=Vienna |quote=The new gold coin with a face value of 50 Euro has a portrait of the celebrated doctor himself together with the staff of Aesculapius, which is the logo for the entire series. The reverse has a bird’s-eye view of the old General Hospital in Vienna, where Semmelweis was stationed in the childbirth clinic. An insert to the right shows a doctor and a student in the act of disinfecting their hands before examining a patient. }}
* {{cite web |last=Musil |first=Steven |title=Google Doodle honors handwashing pioneer Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis |website=CNET |date=2020-03-19 |url=https://www.cnet.com/news/google-doodle-honors-handwashing-pioneer-dr-ignaz-semmelweis/ |access-date=2020-03-22 }}
* {{Cite journal|last=Nissani|first=M.|date=1995|title=The Plight of the Obscure Innovator in Science|journal=Social Studies of Science|volume= 25|pages= 165–183|doi=10.1177/030631295025001008|s2cid=144949936}}
* {{citation |first1=Sherwin B. |last1=Nuland |author1-link=Sherwin B. Nuland |year=2003 |title=The Doctors' Plague: Germs, Childbed Fever and the Strange Story of Ignac Semmelweis |publisher=W. W. Norton |isbn=0-393-05299-0}}
* {{cite book |last=Obenchain |first=Theodore G. |date=2016 |title=Genius Belabored: Childbed Fever and the Tragic Life of Ignaz Semmelweis |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/book/46875 |publisher=University of Alabama Press |isbn=978-0-81731-929-8 }}
* {{cite book |last=Péter |first=László |author-link=László Péter |editor-last=Lojkó |editor-first=Miklós |title=Hungary's long nineteenth century : constitutional and democratic traditions in a European perspective |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden |year=2012 |isbn=978-90-04-22421-6 |oclc=797843088}}
* {{cite book |last=Piper |first=John |year=2007 |title=Motherkillers |url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/34953144?versionId=43382051 |location=Brighton |publisher=Book Guild |isbn=978-1-84624-087-4 |access-date=27 February 2015 }}
* {{cite web |title=Recognizing Ignaz Semmelweis and Handwashing |website=Google |date=2020-03-20 |url=https://doodles.google/doodle/recognizing-ignaz-semmelweis-and-handwashing/ |language=la |ref={{sfnref |Google |2020}} |access-date=2020-03-22 }}
* {{citation |first1=Robert William |last1=Reid |title=Microbes and Men |year=1975 |publisher=Saturday Review Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-8415-0348-9 |oclc=1227698 }}
* {{citation |first1=Joseph Hermann |last1=Schmidt |author1-link=Joseph Hermann Schmidt |title=Die geburtshülfliche-klinischen Institute der königlichen Charité |journal=Annalen des Charité-Krankenhauses zu Berlin |volume=1 |pages=485–523 |year=1850}}
* {{cite web |url=http://semmelweis.org/about/dr-semmelweis-biography/ |title=Dr Semmelweis' Biography |author=Semmelweis Society International |access-date=2 September 2016 |archive-date=22 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190722212057/http://semmelweis.org/about/dr-semmelweis-biography/ |url-status=usurped }}
* {{citation |first1=Ignaz |last1=Semmelweis |translator=Carter, K. Codell |title=Etiology, Concept and Prophylaxis of Childbed Fever |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |year=1983 |isbn=0-299-09364-6 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/etiologyconcepta0000unse }} (references to Carter's foreword and notes indicated)
* {{cite web |url=http://www.semmelweis.museum.hu/ |title=Semmelweis Orvostörténeti Múzeum |author=<!--Not stated--> |publisher=Semmelweis.museum.hu |access-date=2012-05-19 |ref=CITEREFSemmelweis_Orvostörténeti_Múzeum |archive-date=2012-05-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120510211747/http://www.semmelweis.museum.hu/ |url-status=dead }}
* {{citation |title=Puerperal Fever |journal=The Lancet |volume=2 |issue=1732 |year=1856 |doi=10.1016/s0140-6736(02)60262-4 |pages=503–505 |last1=Tyler Smith |first1=W. |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1428576 }}
* {{citation |first1=Friedrich |last1=Wieger |title=Des moyens prophylactiques mis en U.S.A. ge au grand hôpital de Vienne contre l'apparition de la fièvre puerpérale |journal=Gazette Médicale de Strasbourg |volume=9 |pages=99–105 |language=fr |year=1849 }}
{{divcol end}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikisource1911Enc|Semmelweis, Ignatz Philipp}}
* {{Gutenberg author |id=40512}}
* {{Internet Archive author |name=Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis}}
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13712a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia entry]
* [https://www.pbs.org/video/behavior-b42zjq/ Episode 4 (of 4): Behavior] of the [[BBC Four]] and [[PBS]] show: [https://www.pbs.org/show/extra-life-short-history-living-longer/ Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer] (2021)

{{History of infectious disease}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Semmelweis, Ignaz}}
[[Category:Ignaz Semmelweis| ]]
[[Category:1818 births]]
[[Category:1865 deaths]]
[[Category:Physicians from the Austrian Empire]]
[[Category:19th-century Hungarian physicians]]
[[Category:Burials at Kerepesi Cemetery]]
[[Category:Deaths in mental institutions]]
[[Category:Hungarian people of German descent]]
[[Category:Hungarian Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Hungarian scientists]]
[[Category:Bacteriology]]
[[Category:Hygienists]]
[[Category:Medical hygiene]]
[[Category:Pathology of pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium]]
[[Category:People from Buda]]
[[Category:Deaths by beating in Europe]]
[[Category:University of Vienna alumni]]
[[Category:Academic staff of Eötvös Loránd University]]