Anneliese Hitzenberger (30 March 1905 – 31 July 2003) was an Austrian

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

Early life and education

Anna Elisabeth Kosak was born in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, capital of the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, on 30 March 1905. Her family moved to

Bregenz Bregenz (; gsw, label= Vorarlbergian, Breagaz ) is the capital of Vorarlberg, the westernmost state of Austria. The city lies on the east and southeast shores of Lake Constance, the third-largest freshwater lake in Central Europe, between Switze ...

when

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

started in 1914 and she attended the local gymnasium there. Hitzenberger wanted to study medicine despite her parents' preference for acting or writing, so they compromised on philology and history in her first year of university. Unhappy, she chose to pretend to take more of the same for her second year, but secretly took medical classes, much to her parents' displeasure. She ultimately was awarded her

M.D. Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. T ...

degree by the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

in 1931.

Career

She married the head of her department, Karl Hitzenberger, in 1928 and they had four children together. After graduation she worked in the

Vienna General Hospital The Vienna General Hospital (german: Allgemeines Krankenhaus der Stadt Wien), usually abbreviated to AKH, is the general hospital of the city of Vienna, Austria. It is also the city's university hospital, and the site of the Medical Univer ...

until she contracted tubercular

pleurisy Pleurisy, also known as pleuritis, is inflammation of the membranes that surround the lungs and line the chest cavity (pleurae). This can result in a sharp chest pain while breathing. Occasionally the pain may be a constant dull ache. Other sy ...

during her third pregnancy and had to stop working in 1933. Her husband died in 1941 and she had take over his

medical practice Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practic ...

to support her family. She was only able to do so because many male doctors had been mobilized during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Hitzenberger became politically active after the war and was vice-president of the Association of Austrian Medical Women for many years before she became president in 1974. She was also a member of the

Medical Women's International Association The Medical Women's International Association is a non-governmental organization founded in 1919 with the purpose of representing female physicians worldwide. Esther Lovejoy was its first president. The Association grew from an international mee ...

and edited the ''Vienna Medical Journal''.Ogilvie & Harvey, pp. 1229–30

References

Bibliography

*
''Biografien bedeutender österreichischer Wissenschafterinnen''
Vienna 2018, PDF, pp. 372–374 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hitzenberger, Anneliese 1905 births 2003 deaths University of Vienna alumni Austrian women physicians 20th-century Austrian physicians Physicians from Vienna 20th-century women physicians Medical journal editors