PHYSICIAN

Ignaz Semmelweis

1818 - 1865

Photo of Ignaz Semmelweis

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Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis (German: [ˈɪɡnaːts ˈzɛml̩vaɪs]; Hungarian: Semmelweis Ignác Fülöp [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". 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 obstetrical clinics to disinfect their hands. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Ignaz Semmelweis has received more than 3,764,638 page views. His biography is available in 69 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 65 in 2019). Ignaz Semmelweis is the 14th most popular physician (up from 17th in 2019), the 13th most popular biography from Hungary (up from 14th in 2019) and the most popular Hungarian Physician.

Ignaz Semmelweis was a Hungarian physician who discovered that doctors could reduce the number of women dying in childbirth by washing their hands with a chlorine solution before delivering babies.

Memorability Metrics

  • 3.8M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 73.98

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 69

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 8.23

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.73

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among PHYSICIANS

Among physicians, Ignaz Semmelweis ranks 14 out of 726. Before him are Edward Jenner, L. L. Zamenhof, Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi, Andreas Vesalius, Albert Schweitzer, and William Harvey. After him are Michael Servetus, Cesare Lombroso, Cyril of Alexandria, Alois Alzheimer, Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, and Nestorius.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1818, Ignaz Semmelweis ranks 5. Before him are Karl Marx, James Prescott Joule, Emily Brontë, and Alexander II of Russia. After him are Ivan Turgenev, Christian IX of Denmark, Charles Gounod, Jacob Burckhardt, Lewis H. Morgan, Marius Petipa, and Rudolf von Jhering. Among people deceased in 1865, Ignaz Semmelweis ranks 4. Before him are Abraham Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth, and Pierre-Joseph Proudhon. After him are Leopold I of Belgium, Emil Lenz, William Rowan Hamilton, Anna Pavlovna of Russia, Johann Franz Encke, Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, Nicholas Alexandrovich, Tsesarevich of Russia, and Christian Jürgensen Thomsen.

Others Born in 1818

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Others Deceased in 1865

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In Hungary

Among people born in Hungary, Ignaz Semmelweis ranks 13 out of 1,077. Before him are Rudolf Steiner (1861), Harry Houdini (1874), Stephen I of Hungary (975), John von Neumann (1903), George Soros (1930), and Miklós Horthy (1868). After him are Imre Nagy (1896), Louis II of Hungary (1506), Louis I of Hungary (1326), Imre Kertész (1929), Árpád (845), and Gaiseric (389).

Others born in Hungary

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Among PHYSICIANS In Hungary

Among physicians born in Hungary, Ignaz Semmelweis ranks 1. After him are Albert Szent-Györgyi (1893), Kálmán Kalocsay (1891), Gabor Maté (1944), Thomas Szasz (1920), Moritz Kaposi (1837), Eva Klein (1925), Emil Zuckerkandl (1849), Edith Farkas (1921), Gabriele Possanner (1860), Vilma Hugonnai (1847), and Jenő Kamuti (1937).

Hungarian born Physicians

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