Lydia Rabinowitsch-Kempner (22 August 1871 – 3 August 1935) was a Jewish

bacteriologist A bacteriologist is a microbiologist, or similarly trained professional, in bacteriology— a subdivision of microbiology that studies bacteria, typically Pathogenic bacteria, pathogenic ones. Bacteriologists are interested in studying and learnin ...

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

, and

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 ...

, known for her research on the

pathogenesis In pathology, pathogenesis is the process by which a disease or disorder develops. It can include factors which contribute not only to the onset of the disease or disorder, but also to its progression and maintenance. The word comes . Descript ...

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

. In 1904, she identified the bacterium ''tubercle bacilli'' in raw milk. Her work was crucial to the development of Freund adjuvant. In 1912, she became the first woman to be granted

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

ship in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. Eventually, Rabinowitsch became the director of the Moabit Hospital.

Biography

Lydia Rabinowitsch was born at Kovno,

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

(now

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

). She was educated at the girls' gymnasium in Kovno, privately in Latin and Greek. Since she was a woman and Jewish, she was unable to get a higher education in Russia. Subsequently, she left to study the natural sciences at University of

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

and obtained a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

at the

University of Bern The University of Bern (, , ) is a public university, public research university in the Switzerland, Swiss capital of Bern. It was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the canton of Bern. It is a comprehensive university offering a br ...

in 1894.Jewish Encyclopedia website, ''Rabinowitsch-Kempner, Lydia''
/ref>Renaud; Freney, Francois; Jean (2011). ''Pioneers of Bacteriology''. Eska Publishing. p. 179 After graduation she went to Berlin, where Professor

Robert Koch Heinrich Hermann Robert Koch ( ; ; 11 December 1843 – 27 May 1910) was a German physician and microbiologist. As the discoverer of the specific causative agents of deadly infectious diseases including tuberculosis, cholera and anthrax, he i ...

permitted her to pursue her bacteriological studies at the

Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) is a German federal government agency and research institute responsible for disease control and prevention. It is located in Berlin and Wernigerode. As an upper federal agency, it is subordinate to the Federal ...

, becoming his only female apprentice, albeit unpaid. In 1895, she went to

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, where she was appointed lecturer, and eventually, a professor at the

Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania Founded in 1850, The Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania (WMCP), formally known as The Female Medical College of Pennsylvania, was the first American medical college dedicated to teaching women medicine and allowing them to earn the Doctor ...

. In April 1898, she returned to Berlin. She married bacteriologist Walter Kempner (1869-1920).Jewish Women’s Archive website, ''Lydia Rabinowitsch-Kempner'', article by Annette B. Vogt
/ref> After the discovery a species, ''trypanosome lewisi'', in 1877, she identified the different stages of the parasite. In 1896, she delivered before the

International Congress of Women The International Congress of Women was created so that groups of existing women's suffrage movements could come together with other women's groups around the world. It served as a way for women organizations across the nation to establish formal ...

a lecture on the study of medicine by women in various countries in Berlin. At the congress of scientists held at Breslau in 1904 she presided over the section for hygiene and

bacteriology Bacteriology is the branch and specialty of biology that studies the Morphology (biology), morphology, ecology, genetics and biochemistry of bacteria as well as many other aspects related to them. This subdivision of microbiology involves the iden ...

. In 1902, she went to

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

to study the plague. Subsequently, Rabinowitsch studied ''

African trypanosomiasis African trypanosomiasis is an insect-borne parasitic infection of humans and other animals. Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), also known as African sleeping sickness or simply sleeping sickness, is caused by the species ''Trypanosoma bru ...

'' in

East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...

alongside Robert Koch. In 1904, she uncovered in raw milk the bacterium, ''tubercle bacilli'', which Robert Koch had previously attempted but failed in the past. Once she returned to Berlin, Rabinowitsch received a position as a research assistant at the Pathology Institute at the Charité Hospital focusing on tuberculosis. From 1914, to 1933, she was the editor of Zeischrift Fur Tuberkulose. In 1912, she was granted professorship, the first woman to receive the title. In 1912, Kaiser Wilhelm honoured her, but this led to an

anti-semitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

backlash in the press and she was denied employment. Dr. Rabinowitsch’s research focused around the transmission of

Mycobacterium tuberculosis ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (M. tb), also known as Koch's bacillus, is a species of pathogenic bacteria in the family Mycobacteriaceae and the causative agent of tuberculosis. First discovered in 1882 by Robert Koch, ''M. tuberculosis'' ha ...

and

Mycobacterium bovis ''Mycobacterium bovis'' is a slow-growing (16- to 20-hour generation time) Aerobic organism, aerobic bacterium and the causative agent of tuberculosis in cattle (known as bovine TB). It is related to ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'', the bacterium ...

by dairy products; her work led to the development of Freund adjuvant. She worked with Pasteur Institute authorities to solve the

BCG vaccine The Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccine is a vaccine primarily used against tuberculosis (TB). It is named after its inventors Albert Calmette and Camille Guérin. In countries where tuberculosis or leprosy is common, one dose is recom ...

crisis after accidental contamination in Lubock led to patients being infected with tuberculosis. Eventually, Rabinowitsch became director at the Bacteriological Institute of Moabit Hospital, the second most important hospital in Berlin. In 1933, she was forced out due to the

boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent resistance, nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organisation, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for Morality, moral, society, social, politics, political, or Environmenta ...

of Jewish institutions after the rise of

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

, which saw many Jewish doctors dismissed and forbidden to return.

Family

Their first son was the jurist

Robert Kempner Robert Max Wasilii Kempner (17 October 1899 – 15 August 1993) was a German lawyer of Jewish descent who played a prominent role during the Weimar Republic and who later served as assistant U.S. chief counsel during the International Military ...

(1899-1993). Their younger son, Dr Walter Kempner Jr. (1903-1997), was also a medical doctor. He was known for his

rice diet The Rice Diet started as a radical treatment for malignant hypertension before the advent of drugs; the original diet included strict dietary restriction and hospitalization for monitoring. Some contemporary versions have been greatly relaxed, and ...

. Her daughter, Nadja Kempner, died from

in 1932.

She died August 3, 1935 in Berlin, aged 64, from undisclosed causes.

Bibliography

* Anna Plothow. ''Der Weltspiegel'', October 27, 1904 * ''Deutsche Hausfrauenzeitung'', July 1897, by

Isidore Singer Isidore Singer (10 November 1859 – 20 February 1939) was an Austrian-born American encyclopedist and editor of '' The Jewish Encyclopedia'' and founder of the American League for the Rights of Man. Biography Singer was born in 1859 in ...

& Regina Neisser * Beiträge zur Entwickelungsgeschichte der Fruchtkörper einiger Gastromyceten, L Rabinowitsch, 1894

References

Sources

*Renaud; Freney, Francois; Jean (2011). ''Pioneers of Bacteriology''. Eska Publishing. p. 179 {{DEFAULTSORT:Rabinowitschkempner, Lydia 1871 births 1935 deaths 20th-century German biologists 20th-century German Jews 20th-century German women scientists 20th-century Lithuanian Jews 20th-century Lithuanian scientists Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Germany German bacteriologists German feminists German women biologists International Congress of Women people Jewish German feminists Jews from the Russian Empire Physicians from Kaunas Robert Koch Institute people Scientists from the Russian Empire