Marie Heim-Vögtlin (7 October 1845 in

Bözen Bözen is a former municipality in the district of Brugg in canton of Aargau in Switzerland. On 1 January 2022 the former municipalities of Bözen, Effingen, Elfingen and Hornussen merged into the new municipality of Böztal. History The ear ...

– 7 November 1916 in

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

) was the first female

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physician, a writer and a co-founder of the first Swiss gynaecological hospital.

Education

Born as the daughter of the pastor of

, Marie Vögtlin benefited from a private education in the

Romandie Romandy (french: Romandie or )Before World War I, the term French Switzerland (french: Suisse française) waalso used german: Romandie or , it, Romandia, rm, Romanda) is the French-speaking part of western Switzerland. In 2020, about 2 mill ...

and in

. In 1867, her fiancé, a student of

medicine 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 pract ...

, broke off the engagement. He married

Nadezhda Suslova Nadezhda Prokofyevna Suslova (russian: Надежда Прокофьевна Суслова; 1 September 1843 – 20 April 1918) was Russia's first woman medical doctor and the sister of Polina Suslova. She worked as a gynecologist in Nizhny No ...

, Europe's first female physician, instead. In response and with the reluctant support of her father, Vögtlin applied for admission herself to the study of medicine at the

University of Zürich The University of Zürich (UZH, german: Universität Zürich) is a public research university located in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 f ...

, which had been the first medical faculty in Europe to admit women. This caused a national scandal,Müller (Libernensis). as previously only a few "impudent" foreign women such as Suslova had been

matriculated Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now. ...

there. At the university, Vögtlin and her few fellow women students benefited from particular support by the faculty, even as many conservatives decried the medical education of women as shameful and as a waste of time. After Vögtlin passed the examinations with honours,Ogilvie. she studied

gynaecology Gynaecology or gynecology (see spelling differences) is the area of medicine that involves the treatment of women's diseases, especially those of the reproductive organs. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, forming the combined are ...

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

and worked in a

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

maternity ward. On 11 July 1874 she attained her

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

with a dissertation on the topic of the state of the female genitalia in labour. It required the intervention of her father for her to obtain an official permission to practice medicine in Zürich.

Professional and family life

Although her practice had few clients at first, Vögtlin soon acquired a reputation as a capable and well-liked physician, and was particularly noted for her generosity towards poor women. In 1875, she married the noted geologist

Albert Heim Albert Heim (12 April 184931 August 1937) was a Swiss geologist, noted for his three-volume ''Geologie der Schweiz''. Born in Zürich, he was educated at Zürich and Berlin universities. Very early in life he became interested in the physical fe ...

after he had given his permission (as required by law at that time) for her to continue working after marriage. The couple had two children, Arnold and Helene, and also cared for a foster child. In 1916, Marie Heim-Vögtlin died of a lung disease.

Social activism

Marie Heim-Vögtlin was a co-founder of the ''Schweizerische Pflegerinnenschule mit Spital,'' Switzerland's first gynaecological hospital, which also featured a maternity ward and nurses' school. After the school opened in 1901, she served as its

bursar A bursar (derived from "bursa", Latin for '' purse'') is a professional administrator in a school or university often with a predominantly financial role. In the United States, bursars usually hold office only at the level of higher education (f ...

. She was an active participant in the

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

and

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...

s and published several works, mostly popular writings for women and children.

Honours

The

Swiss National Science Foundation The Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF, German: ''Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung'', SNF; French: ''Fonds national suisse de la recherche scientifique'', FNS; Italian: ''Fondo nazionale svizzero ...

(SNSF) has named a women's scholarship in Marie Heim-Vögtlin's honour. In 1995, a lane near the Zürich women's hospital was named after her. In 2010 Marie Heim-Vögtlin's work was honoured by the

Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster is a guild–like organisation in Zürich, Switzerland, not yet associated with the Zünfte of Zürich as of 2015. History of Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster In medieval times, in Zürich all female and male ''B ...

. In 2016, the hundredth anniversary of her death is commemorated with a

Swiss Post Swiss Post (french: La Poste suisse, it, La Posta Svizzera, german: Die Schweizerische Post, rm, La Posta Svizra) is the national postal service of Switzerland. A public company owned by the Swiss Confederation, it is the country's second larg ...

stamp.

References

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Footnotes

External links

*
Marie Heim-Vögtlin Programme
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heim-Vogtlin, Marie 1845 births 1916 deaths People from Brugg District Swiss Calvinist and Reformed Christians Swiss gynaecologists Swiss women physicians Swiss writers in German 20th-century Swiss physicians 19th-century Swiss physicians 20th-century women scientists 19th-century women scientists University of Zurich alumni 20th-century women physicians 19th-century women physicians