Sarolta Steinberger (12 September 1875 – 24 November 1965) was one of the first women to qualify as a physician in Hungary.
Life
Steinberger was born in Tiszaújlak,
Austria-Hungary
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 ...
(today
Vylok
Vylok ( uk, Вилок; hu, Tiszaújlak) (formerly uk, Уйлок) is an urban-type settlement in Berehove Raion (district) of Zakarpattia Oblast (region) in western Ukraine. Today, the population is .
The village is located around 15 (by rail) ...
,
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
) in 1875 to affluent Jewish parents. She attended private schools, and later she was educated in Kolozsvár (today
Cluj-Napoca
; hu, kincses város)
, official_name=Cluj-Napoca
, native_name=
, image_skyline=
, subdivision_type1 = Counties of Romania, County
, subdivision_name1 = Cluj County
, subdivision_type2 = Subdivisions of Romania, Status
, subdivision_name2 ...
,
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
).
[
In December 1895, the newly appointed Minister of Education and Religion, ]Gyula Wlassics
Baron Gyula Wlassics de Zalánkemén (17 March 1852 – 30 March 1937) was a Hungarian politician, who served as Minister of Religion and Education between 1895 and 1903.
Description
In December 1895 Wlassics passed a law that allowed women, ...
passed a law that allowed women, and Steinberger, to attend Eötvös Loránd University
Eötvös Loránd University ( hu, Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem, ELTE) is a Hungarian public research university based in Budapest. Founded in 1635, ELTE is one of the largest and most prestigious public higher education institutions in Hung ...
in Budapest to study medicine.[Women can also study at Hungarian universities]
Hirek.sk, 19 December 2011; retrieved 21 April 2017. In 1900, the ''Sunday News'' reported that Steinberger had qualified as a doctor. She was the first woman to achieve this qualification in Hungary.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 ...
around 1879. but was only allowed to practise as a physician in Hungary in 1897.[Jennifer S. Uglow & Maggy Hendry]
''The Northeastern Dictionary of Women's Biography''
UPNE, 1999, pg. 268
After she qualified as a doctor, she first studied gynecology
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 ...
abroad for two years. When she returned to practise in Hungary she joined the Feminist Guild. Steinberger lectured[ and in 1902 she wrote a series of articles on ''The History of Doctors''.
She worked at the Tauffer clinic which had been founded by William Tauffer in 1888.][ In 1913, the law was changed so that women doctors no longer needed a male doctor to work with them.][ In 1928, she became the director of the National Social Insurance Institute.][
]
World War II
Steinberger may have been able to leave Hungary in 1938 after the Nazis annexed the country. Her case was championed in the USA with leading suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt
Carrie Chapman Catt (; January 9, 1859 Fowler, p. 3 – March 9, 1947) was an American women's suffrage leader who campaigned for the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which gave U.S. women the right to vote in 1920. Catt ...
. World Peace Prize
The World Peace Prize was established in 1989 by Robert L. Leggett, Suzi Leggett, and Dr. Han Min Su., and was registered the same year in Washington D.C. as the "World Peace Corps Mission, World Peace Corp Academy and World Peace Prize Awarding Co ...
winner Rosika Schwimmer
Rosika Schwimmer ( hu, Schwimmer Rózsa; 11 September 1877 – 3 August 1948) was a Hungarian-born pacifist, feminist, world federalist, and women's suffragist. A co-founder of the Campaign for World Government with Lola Maverick Lloyd, her ra ...
approached Catt to sign a letter in support of Eugénia Meller and Sarolta to emigrate to the USA. Catt refused to sign the letter. She noted that she was old and the letter would remain after her death.[Steinberger Sarolta (1875-1966) is a doctor, a feminist]
Mamika, 30 May 2015, Nokert.hu, Retrieved 21 April 2017
Steinberger retired and died in Pesthidegkút near Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
in 1965.[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steinberger, Sarolta
1875 births
1965 deaths
Hungarian healthcare managers
Hungarian women physicians
Hungarian gynaecologists
20th-century Hungarian physicians
19th-century Hungarian physicians
20th-century women physicians
19th-century women physicians