Paul Zweifel (30 June 1848 in

Höngg Höngg is a quarter in district 10 in Zürich. It was formerly a municipality of its own, having been incorporated into Zürich in 1934. The quarter has a population of 21,186, distributed across an area of 6.98 km2. Höngg is renowned f ...

, near

Zürich 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 ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

– 13 August 1927 in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

) was a German

gynecologist Gynaecology or gynecology (see American and British English spelling differences) is the area of medicine concerned with conditions affecting the female reproductive system. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, which focuses on pre ...

and

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out chemical and ...

. In 1876 he proved that the

fetus A fetus or foetus (; : fetuses, foetuses, rarely feti or foeti) is the unborn offspring of a viviparous animal that develops from an embryo. Following the embryonic development, embryonic stage, the fetal stage of development takes place. Pren ...

was

metabolically Metabolism (, from ''metabolē'', "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cellular processes; the c ...

active.

Biography

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

University of Zürich The University of Zurich (UZH, ) is a public university, public research university in Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of the ...

(M.D. 1871), studying under

Adolf Gusserow Adolf Ludwig Sigismund Gusserow (Berlin, 8 July 1836 – Berlin, 8 February 1906) was a German gynecologist who was a native of Berlin. He married Clara Oppenheim (1861–1944), a descendant of Berlin banker Joseph Mendelssohn. Gusserow began his ...

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

venia legendi Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellen ...

'' at the

University of Strassburg The University of Strasbourg (, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. Founded in the 16th century by Johannes Sturm, it was a center of intellectual life during ...

, where he had already become an assistant in the gynecological institute. At Strassburg, he conducted studies on the physiology of the fetus and

placenta The placenta (: placentas or placentae) is a temporary embryonic and later fetal organ that begins developing from the blastocyst shortly after implantation. It plays critical roles in facilitating nutrient, gas, and waste exchange between ...

Felix Hoppe-Seyler Ernst Felix Immanuel Hoppe-Seyler (''né'' Felix Hoppe; 26 December 1825 – 10 August 1895) was a German physiologist and chemist, and the principal founder of the disciplines of biochemistry and molecular biology. He had discovered Yeast nuclei ...

's institute. In 1876 he was appointed professor of gynecology at the

University of Erlangen A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

. In 1887 he transferred to

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

, 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 is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...

. 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 (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a s ...

to evaluate competing

obstetrical procedures 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 surgic ...

. In 1931, a road in the Probstheida district of Leipzig was named ''Zweifelstraße'' in his honor.Leipzig-Lexikon
Zweifelstraße Also a building at the University of Erlangen bears his name.

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 Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

, 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).

References

Bibliography

* Pagel, J.L., ''Biographisches Lexikon''. *''Meyers Konversations-Lexikon''. *''Brockhaus Konversations-Lexikon''.

External links

Short biography
from the Universitätsklinikum Erlangen
Short biography
from Frauenklinik Erlangen *''Jewish Encyclopedia''
“Zweifel, Paul”
by Isidore Singer and Frederick Haneman (1906). {{DEFAULTSORT:Zweifel, Paul 1848 births 1927 deaths German physiologists German gynaecologists Academic staff of Leipzig University People from Erlangen