<P> Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis ( German : ( ɪˈɡnaːts ˈzɛml̩vaɪs ) ; Hungarian : Semmelweis Ignác Fülöp ; 1 July 1818 -- 13 August 1865 ) was a Hungarian physician of ethnic - German ancestry , now known as an early pioneer of antiseptic procedures . Described as the `` saviour of mothers '' , Semmelweis discovered that the incidence of puerperal fever ( also known as `` childbed fever '' ) could be drastically cut by the use of hand disinfection in obstetrical clinics . Puerperal fever was common in mid-19th - century hospitals and often fatal . Semmelweis proposed the practice of washing hands with chlorinated lime solutions in 1847 while working in Vienna General Hospital 's First Obstetrical Clinic , where doctors ' wards had three times the mortality of midwives ' wards . He published a book of his findings in Etiology , Concept and Prophylaxis of Childbed Fever . </P>
<P> Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis ( German : ( ɪˈɡnaːts ˈzɛml̩vaɪs ) ; Hungarian : Semmelweis Ignác Fülöp ; 1 July 1818 -- 13 August 1865 ) was a Hungarian physician of ethnic - German ancestry , now known as an early pioneer of antiseptic procedures . Described as the `` saviour of mothers '' , Semmelweis discovered that the incidence of puerperal fever ( also known as `` childbed fever '' ) could be drastically cut by the use of hand disinfection in obstetrical clinics . Puerperal fever was common in mid-19th - century hospitals and often fatal . Semmelweis proposed the practice of washing hands with chlorinated lime solutions in 1847 while working in Vienna General Hospital 's First Obstetrical Clinic , where doctors ' wards had three times the mortality of midwives ' wards . He published a book of his findings in Etiology , Concept and Prophylaxis of Childbed Fever . </P>
who was the first person to demonstrate that hand washing saved lives from infection
who was the first person to demonstrate that hand washing saved lives from infection
Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis
Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis