Agnes Bluhm (9 January 1862 – 12 November 1943) was a German

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

eugenicist Eugenics is a set of largely discredited beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetics, genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter the frequency of various human Phenotype, phenotypes by ...

, and winner of a

Goethe medal The Goethe Medal, also known as the Goethe-Medaille, is a yearly prize given by the Goethe-Institut honoring non-Germans "who have performed outstanding service for the German language and for international cultural relations". It is an offici ...

. She believed that German women could improve the race using eugenics and forced sterilisation. She wrote that the "female psyche" made her gender predisposed towards working for "

racial hygiene The term racial hygiene was used to describe an approach to eugenics in the early 20th century, which found its most extensive implementation in Nazi Germany (Nazi eugenics). It was marked by efforts to avoid miscegenation, analogous to an anim ...

Life

Bluhm was born in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

in 1862. She was trained as a medical doctor and won prizes for her research. She believed that German women could improve the race using eugenics. While a student, she met

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher. He began his career as a classical philology, classical philologist, turning to philosophy early in his academic career. In 1869, aged 24, Nietzsche bec ...

and became part of the students in his circle, which included Eva Corell, Meta von Salis, Resa von Schirnhofer and Clara Willdenow. In 1886 she fell in love with

Alfred Ploetz Alfred Ploetz (22 August 1860 – 20 March 1940) was a German physician, biologist, Social Darwinist, and eugenicist known for coining the term racial hygiene (''Rassenhygiene''), a form of eugenics, and for promoting the concept in Germany. Ear ...

who was already involved with another scientist named Pauline Rüdin. They became involved whilst conducting dissection and they decided to get married early in 1887. Ploetz was also seeing an American named Mary Sherwood who was studying hypnotism. Ploetz returned to Rüdin in 1888 and married her. Bluhm however kept Ploetz as a close friend throughout her life and they both shared similar views on racial purity and the benefits of eugenics. Bluhm became the third female doctor in Berlin and she joined two fellow Zurich trained doctors to staff a clinic for poor women there in 1890. She joined the Racial Hygiene Society in 1906. Bluhm had to retire from practising medicine due to problems with her ears but she redirected her efforts to medical research. After 1918 she conducted extensive research on heredity in animals to try to determine how a race could be improved. She is said to be first German female doctor known for her research. She carried out research on alcoholism and heredity under early funding from the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...

. Bluhm was awarded a silver Leibnitz medal for her work. In 1936 she published her book which laid out her views on the role of women. ''The Racial Hygiene Problem for Women Physicians'' described how she saw women's role to work hard at reproduction in order to improve humanity. She strongly advocated against smoking, noting research which showed lower fertility in women who smoked. Women should look to motherhood and not to emancipation as their contribution. Although Bluhm had a career she saw this as a special case because of the need for speciality doctors. In general she thought that women should not have careers. Moreover, she recommended that the "female psyche" made her gender predisposed towards working for "racial hygiene". She won the

Goethe-Medaille für Kunst und Wissenschaft The Goethe-Medaille für Kunst und Wissenschaft (Goethe Medal for Art and Science) is a German award. It was authorized by Reichspräsident Paul von Hindenburg to commemorate the centenary of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's death on March 22, 1932. It ...

during the war.

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

awarded about 400 of these medals during his time in power but only five were awarded to women and the rest were a singer, actresses and writers. Bluhm died in

Beelitz Beelitz () is a historic town in Potsdam-Mittelmark district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is chiefly known for its cultivation of white asparagus (''Beelitzer Spargel''). Geography Beelitz is situated about 18 km (11 mi) south of Potsda ...

in 1943 (or 1944) before the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bluhm, Agnes 1862 births 1943 deaths 19th-century German physicians German eugenicists Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to Germany 20th-century German physicians 20th-century German women physicians 19th-century German women physicians