– August 13, 1927, Leipzig

Leipzig

Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

) was a German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 gynecologist

Gynaecology

Gynaecology or gynecology is the medical practice dealing with the health of the female reproductive system . Literally, outside medicine, it means "the science of women"...

 and physiologist. In 1876 he proved that the fetus

Fetus

A fetus is a developing mammal or other viviparous vertebrate after the embryonic stage and before birth.In humans, the fetal stage of prenatal development starts at the beginning of the 11th week in gestational age, which is the 9th week after fertilization.-Etymology and spelling variations:The...

 was metabolically

Metabolism

Metabolism is the set of chemical reactions that happen in the cells of living organisms to sustain life. These processes allow organisms to grow and reproduce, maintain their structures, and respond to their environments. Metabolism is usually divided into two categories...

 active.

Zweifel was born in Switzerland; his father was a physician. He was educated at the University of Zürich

University of Zurich

The University of Zurich , located in the city of Zurich, is the largest university in Switzerland, with over 25,000 students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of theology, law, medicine and a new faculty of philosophy....

 (M.D. 1871), studying under Adolf Gusserow

Adolf Gusserow

Adolf Ludwig Sigismund Gusserow was a German gynecologist who was a native of Berlin. He married Clara Oppenheim , a descendant of Berlin banker Joseph Mendelssohn....

 (1836-1906). In 1871, he received the venia legendi

Habilitation

Habilitation is the highest academic qualification a scholar can achieve by his or her own pursuit in several European and Asian countries. Earned after obtaining a research doctorate, such as a PhD, habilitation requires the candidate to write a professorial thesis based on independent...

at the University of Strassburg

University of Strasbourg

The University of Strasbourg in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, is the largest university in France, with about 43,000 students and over 4,000 researchers....

, where he had already become assistant in the gynecological institute under Felix Hoppe-Seyler. In 1876 he was appointed professor of gynecology at the University of Erlangen. In 1887 he transferred to University of Leipzig

University of Leipzig

The University of Leipzig , located in Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, is one of the oldest universities in the world and the second-oldest university in Germany...

, where he served as the Chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology until his retirement 35 years later (1921). He held the title "Geheimer Medizinal-Rat."

In 1876, he became the first to demonstrate that the fetus in utero is metabolically active, consuming oxygen

Oxygen

Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...

. This was a hotly debated question before Zweifel, and his discovery introduced the modern era of fetal physiology research. He also made extensive use of statistics

Statistics

Statistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....

 to evaluate competing obstetrical procedures

Obstetrics

Obstetrics is the medical specialty dealing with the care of all women's reproductive tracts and their children during pregnancy , childbirth and the postnatal period...

.

Works

Zweifel contributed over 100 monographs to medical journals. Among his many works may be mentioned:

• Über den Verdauungsapparat der Neugeborenen (Strasburg, 1874)
• Lehrbuch der Operativen Geburtshülfe (Stuttgart, 1881; appeared as Lehrbuch der Geburtshülfe, Stuttgart, 1887, 5th ed. 1901)
• Der Einfluss der Aerztlichen Thätigkeit auf die Bevölkerungsbewegung (Stuttgart, 1887)
• Die Symphyseotomie (Stuttgart 1893)
• Ätiologie, Prophylaxis und Therapie der Rachitis (Stuttgart, 1900)
• Ätiologie, Begriff und Prophylaxis des Kindbettfiebers (Leipzig, J.A. Barth, 1912)

A street is named for him in Probstheida, Leipzig

Leipzig

Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...

, and also a building at the University of Erlangen.

External links

Short biography from the Universitätsklinikum Erlangen Short biography from Frauenklinik Erlangen

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