Joseph Späth (13 March 1823 in

Bozen Bolzano ( ; ; or ) is the capital city of South Tyrol (officially the province of Bolzano), Northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third largest in historical Tyrol. The g ...

– 29 March 1896) was professor of

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 su ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, and from 1873 to 1886 he was director of the second obstetrical clinic at the

Vienna General Hospital The Vienna General Hospital (), usually abbreviated to AKH, is the general hospital in Vienna, Austria. It is also the city's university hospital, and the site of the Medical University of Vienna. It is Europe's fifth largest hospital, b ...

. Following graduation at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

in 1849, he became an assistant to Johann Baptist Chiari (1817-1854). Afterwards he worked at the maternity clinic for

midwives A midwife (: midwives) is a health professional who cares for mothers and newborns around childbirth, a specialisation known as midwifery. The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughout their ...

until 1853. In 1861, he was appointed professor of obstetrics in Vienna, and in 1873, he became director of the second obstetrical-gynecological clinic. In 1872/73, he served as university rector.ADB:Spaeth, Joseph
at

Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB; ) is one of the most important and comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language. It was published by the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences between 1875 and 1912 in 56 volumes, printed in Lei ...

Straßennamen: 22. Bezirk
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Ignaz Semmelweis Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis (; ; 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 infections, ...

(1818-1865) regarded him as a principal opponent. By 1864, however, he had adopted Semmelweis's view, and observed that virtually all obstetricians were convinced that Semmelweis was correct, although few admitted it openly. In 1953, the thoroughfare ''Späthgasse'' (District 22,

Donaustadt Donaustadt (; "Danube City") is the 22nd district of Vienna, Austria (). Donaustadt is the easternmost district of Vienna.Statistik Austria, 2007, webpagestatistik.at-23450. Wien.gv.at webpage (see below: References). Geography The Donaustadt ...

) in Vienna was named after him.

Written works

* ''Klinik der Geburtshülfe und Gynäkologie'', 1855 (Clinic of obstetrics and gynecology) with Johann Baptist Chiari and Karl Braun (1822–1891). * ''Studien über Zwillinge'', 1860 (Study of

twins Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two e ...

). * ''Ueber mehrere Anomalien der die Frucht umgebenden Eitheile'', 1861 with Carl Wedl (1815-1891) * ''Sanitäts- Verhältnisse der Wöchnerinnen 1863 an der Geburtsklinik für Hebammen'' (Sanitary conditions of mothers in 1863 at the maternity hospital for midwives). * ''Lehrbuch der Geburteshülfe für Hebammen''; 1869, third edition 1880 (Textbook of obstetrics for midwives).

References

* Frank P. Murphy, "Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis (1818-65): An Annotated Bibliography," Bulletin of the History of Medicine 20(1946), 653-707: 669f. Quoted in p135 footnote 16
Pagel: Biographisches Lexikon
(translated biography) {{DEFAULTSORT:Spath, Joseph People from Bolzano Academic staff of the University of Vienna University of Vienna alumni 1823 births 1896 deaths Physicians from the Austrian Empire Obstetricians Physicians from Austria-Hungary