# Ignaz Semmelweis

> He proved that doctors washing their hands could cut maternal death rates from 18% to under 2%, and the medical establishment mocked him for it. Semmelweis died in an asylum at 47, beaten by guards, decades before germ theory made his work common sense.

*Hungarian physician, early pioneer of antiseptic procedures (1818–1865)*

**Canonical URL:** https://fame.am/person/ignaz-semmelweis

## Identity
- **Profile type:** Doctor ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q39631))
- **Category:** Doctors
- **Born:** 1818-07-01
- **Died:** 1865-08-13
- **Status:** deceased
- **Gender:** male

## Bio

Ignaz Semmelweis was a Hungarian physician of German descent working at Vienna General Hospital when he noticed that doctors' wards had three times the childbed fever mortality of midwives' wards. In 1847, he proposed hand washing with chlorinated lime solutions — maternal mortality plummeted from 18% to less than 2%. He published his findings in 1861, but the medical community rejected them outright; he could offer no theoretical explanation for why disinfection worked, and some doctors took offense at the implication they were unclean. By 1865, increasingly outspoken and seemingly unraveling, Semmelweis was committed to an asylum by his colleagues. He was beaten by guards and died 14 days later from a gangrenous wound on his right hand, possibly caused by the beating. Only after Louis Pasteur confirmed germ theory and Joseph Lister adopted hygienic methods did the world recognize what Semmelweis had seen.

## Fame
- **Popularity score:** 61.2 / 100
- **Momentum:** 0.0 / 100  (trend: FALLING)
- **Historical depth:** 26.2 / 100
- **Now attention:** 7.4 / 100
- **Source confidence:** 60.0 / 100
- **Profile completeness:** 60.0 / 100
- **Category rank:** #55

## Topics
#Doctors, #Doctor, #Medicine, #19th Century

## Sources
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q59736)
- [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis)
- [Pantheon 2.0](https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Ignaz%20Semmelweis)
- [اجناتس سيملفيس](https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%D8%AC%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%AA%D8%B3_%D8%B3%D9%8A%D9%85%D9%84%D9%81%D9%8A%D8%B3)
- [ایقناز سمل‌ویس](https://azb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%DB%8C%D9%82%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%B2_%D8%B3%D9%85%D9%84%E2%80%8C%D9%88%DB%8C%D8%B3)
- [İqnas Zemmelveys](https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%B0qnas_Zemmelveys)
- [Игнац Филипп Земмельвайс](https://ba.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%98%D0%B3%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%86_%D0%A4%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BF%D0%BF_%D0%97%D0%B5%D0%BC%D0%BC%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%B9%D1%81)
- [Ignaz Semmelweis](https://bcl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis)
- [Ігнац Земельвейс](https://be.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%86%D0%B3%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%86_%D0%97%D0%B5%D0%BC%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%B9%D1%81)
- [Игнац Земелвайс](https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%98%D0%B3%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%86_%D0%97%D0%B5%D0%BC%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%B9%D1%81)
- [ইগনাৎস জেমেলভাইস](https://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A6%87%E0%A6%97%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%BE%E0%A7%8E%E0%A6%B8_%E0%A6%9C%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%AE%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%AD%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%87%E0%A6%B8)
- [Ignaz Semmelweis](https://bs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis)
- [Ignaz Semmelweis](https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis)
- [Ignác Filip Semmelweis](https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ign%C3%A1c_Filip_Semmelweis)
- [Ignaz Semmelweis](https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis)
- [Ignaz Semmelweis](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis)
- [Ιγκνάτς Σέμελβαϊς](https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%99%CE%B3%CE%BA%CE%BD%CE%AC%CF%84%CF%82_%CE%A3%CE%AD%CE%BC%CE%B5%CE%BB%CE%B2%CE%B1%CF%8A%CF%82)
- [Ignaz Semmelweis](https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis)
- [Ignaz Semmelweis](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis)
- [Ignaz Semmelweis](https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis)
- [Ignaz Semmelweis](https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis)
- [ایگناتس زملوایس](https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%DB%8C%DA%AF%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%AA%D8%B3_%D8%B2%D9%85%D9%84%D9%88%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B3)
- [Ignaz Semmelweis](https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis)
- [Ignace Philippe Semmelweis](https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignace_Philippe_Semmelweis)
- [Ignaz Semmelweis](https://ga.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis)
- [Wikiquote](https://de.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis)
- [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis)
- [Wikiquote](https://it.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ign%C3%A1c_Semmelweis)
- [Ignaz Semmelweis](https://af.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis)
- [أجناتس سيملفيس](https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A3%D8%AC%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%AA%D8%B3_%D8%B3%D9%8A%D9%85%D9%84%D9%81%D9%8A%D8%B3)

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