Ernst Gräfenberg (26 September 1881 – 28 October 1957) was a German-born physician and scientist. He is known for developing the
intra-uterine device
An intrauterine device (IUD), also known as intrauterine contraceptive device (IUCD or ICD) or coil, is a small, often T-shaped birth control device that is inserted into the uterus to prevent pregnancy. IUDs are one form of long-acting reversi ...
(IUD), and for his studies of the role of the
woman's urethra
The urethra (from Greek οὐρήθρα – ''ourḗthrā'') is a tube that connects the urinary bladder to the urinary meatus for the removal of urine from the body of both females and males. In human females and other primates, the urethra con ...
in
orgasm
Orgasm (from Greek , ; "excitement, swelling") or sexual climax is the sudden discharge of accumulated sexual excitement during the sexual response cycle, resulting in rhythmic, involuntary muscular contractions in the pelvic region charact ...
. The
G-spot is named after him.
Career
Gräfenberg studied
medicine
Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, and Health promotion ...
in
Göttingen and
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
, earning his doctorate on 10 March 1905. He began working as a doctor of
ophthalmology
Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders.
An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a med ...
at the university of
Würzburg
Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the '' Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River.
Würzbur ...
, but then moved to the Department 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 surg ...
and
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 a ...
at the
University of Kiel, where he published papers on
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal bl ...
metastasis
Metastasis is a pathogenic agent's spread from an initial or primary site to a different or secondary site within the host's body; the term is typically used when referring to metastasis by a cancerous tumor. The newly pathological sites, then, ...
(the "Gräfenberg theory"), and the physiology of egg implantation. In 1910 Gräfenberg worked as a gynaecologist in
Berlin
Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...
, and by 1920 was quite successful, with an office on the
Kurfürstendamm.
He was chief gynaecologist of a municipal hospital in Britz, a working-class Berlin district, and was beginning scientific studies of the physiology of human reproduction at Berlin University.
During the
First World War
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 fig ...
, he was a medical officer, and continued publishing papers, mostly on human female physiology. In 1929 he published his studies of the "
Gräfenberg ring Gräfenberg may refer to:
* Gräfenberg, Bavaria, a town in Franconia, Germany
* Lázně Jeseník (German name ''Gräfenberg''), administrative part of city Jeseník, Czech Republic
** Gräfenberg Spa, a spa founded by Vincent Priessnitz in Lázn� ...
", the first
IUD for which there are usage records.
17th-century, Dutch physician
Regnier de Graaf described
female ejaculation and referred to an erogenous zone in the vagina that he linked with the male prostate; this zone was later reported by Gräfenberg. The term "G-Spot" was coined by Addiego et al. in 1981, named after Gräfenberg, even though Gräfenberg's 1940s research was dedicated to urethral stimulation. In 1950, Gräfenberg stated, "An erotic zone always could be demonstrated on the anterior wall of the vagina along the course of the urethra."
When
Nazism
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
assumed power in Germany, Gräfenberg, a
Jew, was forced in 1933 to resign as head of the department of gynaecology and obstetrics in the Berlin-Britz municipal hospital.
In 1934, Hans Lehfeldt attempted to persuade him to leave
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
; he refused, believing that since his practice included wives of high Nazi officials, he would be safe. He was wrong and was arrested in 1937 for having smuggled out a valuable stamp from Germany. On 9 November 1938 he was sentenced to three years imprisonment by the
Landgericht Berlin and received a large fine for this alleged offense.
Until 15 August 1940 he was imprisoned in the
Brandenburg-Görden Prison.
Margaret Sanger
Margaret Higgins Sanger (born Margaret Louise Higgins; September 14, 1879September 6, 1966), also known as Margaret Sanger Slee, was an American birth control activist, sex educator, writer, and nurse. Sanger popularized the term "birth contr ...
ransomed him from Nazi prison, whereupon he went to the U.S. and opened a practice in New York City. Among others, the German novelist
Erich Maria Remarque
Erich Maria Remarque (, ; born Erich Paul Remark; 22 June 1898 – 25 September 1970) was a German-born novelist. His landmark novel '' All Quiet on the Western Front'' (1928), based on his experience in the Imperial German Army during Wor ...
helped Gräfenberg to build his new existence in the U.S.
Private life
Gräfenberg was born in
Adelebsen
Adelebsen is a municipality in the district of Göttingen, in Lower Saxony, Germany.
It consists of the localities Adelebsen, Barterode, Eberhausen, Erbsen, Güntersen, Lödingsen and Wibbecke. The Burg Adelebsen is located on a high point i ...
near
Göttingen,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...
, the son of Salomon Gräfenberg (1834–1918) and Minna Gräfenberg (née Eichenberg; 1845–1910). Ernst's father owned an iron wares business in Adelebsen and served as the head of the Jewish community there from 1868 to 1882, and as an Adelebsen community council member (Bürgervorsteher) from 1889 to 1893.
[Eggert, Björn. Entry for]
Gertrud Seidl (geborene Gräfenberg), 1883–1943
(sister of Ernst Gräfenberg), in ''Stolpersteine Hamburg''. Retrieved 22 February 2015 from www.stolpersteine-hamburg.de In 1893 the family moved to Göttingen, where Ernst attended the municipal high school, or
Gymnasium, later known as the .
Gräfenberg was briefly married to writer
Rosie Waldeck.
[Th]
U.S. Copyright Renewals, 1962 July – December
indicate that Rosie Waldeck is also known as Rosie Graefenberg Waldeck, and as "R.G." was author of ''Prelude to the past; the autobiography of a woman.'' ''Time'' magazine, in it
indicates that she is the same person; however, they give the "G" as standing for Goldschmidt, her maiden name. He died largely unnoticed on 28 October 1957 in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
, but the Jewish weekly ''
Aufbau'' published an obituary.
He was buried on the
Ferncliff Cemetery.
References
External links
Ernst Gräfenberg: From Berlin to New Yorkby
Beverly Whipple, Ph.D, RN, FAAN Professor Rutgers,
The State University of New Jersey, USA
''The Role of Urethra in Female Orgasm''by Ernest Gräfenberg, M.D.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grafenberg, Ernst
1881 births
1957 deaths
American people of German-Jewish descent
German gynaecologists
Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States
German sexologists
Jewish American scientists
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni
People from the Province of Hanover
University of Göttingen alumni
Academic staff of the University of Kiel
German military personnel of World War I