Vindicating a traduced genius: Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis (1818–1865)

Abstract

Anglophone narratives of Semmelweis's discovery of the cause and prophylaxis of childbed (puerperal) fever are based on a deficient historical record because important information about what happened to Semmelweis in Vienna, Austria, is contained in primary documents that had never been translated into English until very recently. The gaps in these narratives have been filled with invented facts and causal attributions that traduce Semmelweis by berating his character, education, and writing proficiency to hold him solely responsible for the rejection of his theory by most of his contemporaries and to explain the most puzzling aspect of his life: why he did not publish the results of his groundbreaking research in a medical journal for 11 years. This article presents the historical evidence contained in these primary documents that were missing from previous narratives and that provide very rational and understandable explanations for Semmelweis's actions. It also presents evidence that flatly contradicts the claims that have been made about Semmelweis's character, education, and writing skills and offers a more veridical portrayal of what happened to Semmelweis in Vienna that caused him to leave the city and delay publishing his results.