Ferdinand August Maria Franz von Ritgen (11 October 1787 – 14 April 1867) was a German

obstetrician Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgi ...

and naturalist born in the

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

n village of Wulfen (now part of

Dorsten Dorsten (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Dössen'') is a town in the district of Recklinghausen (district), Recklinghausen in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and has a population of about 75,000. Dorsten is situated on the western rim of ...

). He is remembered for instruction in the field of

midwifery Midwifery is the health science and health profession that deals with pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period (including care of the newborn), in addition to the sexual and reproductive health of women throughout their lives. In many cou ...

. He studied at

Giessen Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 univers ...

and later worked as district medical officer at Stadtberge.Plett - Schmidseder
by K. G. Saur Verlag GmbH & Company In 1814 he attained the chair of

surgery Surgery ''cheirourgikē'' (composed of χείρ, "hand", and ἔργον, "work"), via la, chirurgiae, meaning "hand work". is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a person to investigate or treat a pat ...

and

obstetrics Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgi ...

at the

University of Giessen University of Giessen, official name Justus Liebig University Giessen (german: Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen), is a large public research university in Giessen, Hesse, Germany. It is named after its most famous faculty member, Justus von L ...

. Subsequently, he founded a school for midwives. In 1825/26 and 1837/38 he served as university

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

.Deutsche Biographie
/ref> Ritgen was editor of the journal ''Gemeinsame deutsche Zeitschrift für Geburtskunde''. His name is associated with the so-called "Ritgen's maneuver" (German: ''Ritgen-Hinterdammgriff''), an obstetrical technique defined as delivery of a child's head by pressure on the

perineum The perineum in humans is the space between the anus and scrotum in the male, or between the anus and the vulva in the female. The perineum is the region of the body between the pubic symphysis (pubic arch) and the coccyx (tail bone), includi ...

while controlling the speed of delivery by pressure with the other hand on the head. Ritgen was also interested in

natural sciences Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

, publishing works in the fields of

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ear ...

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

and even

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...

. In 1826 he proposed the dinosaur species name of ''Megalosaurus conybeari'' from fragmentary fossils found in England, however, during the following year,

Gideon Mantell Gideon Algernon Mantell MRCS FRS (3 February 1790 – 10 November 1852) was a British obstetrician, geologist and palaeontologist. His attempts to reconstruct the structure and life of ''Iguanodon'' began the scientific study of dinosaurs: in ...

gave it the binomial of ''

Megalosaurus bucklandii ''Megalosaurus'' (meaning "great lizard", from Greek , ', meaning 'big', 'tall' or 'great' and , ', meaning 'lizard') is an extinct genus of large carnivorous theropod dinosaurs of the Middle Jurassic period (Bathonian stage, 166 million years a ...

'' (its present name). In 1828 Ritgen described the North American turtle genus ''

Clemmys ''Clemmys'' is a genus of turtles currently containing a single extant species, the spotted turtle ''(Clemmys guttata)''. Taxonomy In the past, several other species were included in the genus, including a number of fossil species. DNA analysis ...

''. He was the father of architect Hugo von Ritgen (1811-1889).

Written works

* In obstetrics: * ''Handbuch der niedern Geburtshülfe'', 1824 - Manual of the lower midwifery. *
Pathologie und Therapie der Afterbildungen
', (1828) - Pathology and therapy following training. * ''Lehr- und Handbuch der Geburtshülfe für Hebammen'', 1848 - Teaching aid and manual on obstetrics for midwives, 1848. * In natural sciences: * ''Versuch einer natürlichen Eintheilung der Amphibien'' 1826 - Essay on a natural division of amphibians. * ''Versuch einer natürlichen Eintheilung der Vögel'' 1826 - Essay on a natural division of birds.Biodiversity Heritage Library
(publications)

Notes

References

fro
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ritgen, Ferdinand August Maria Franz von 1787 births 1867 deaths People from Dorsten German obstetricians German naturalists German paleontologists 19th-century German zoologists University of Giessen faculty