Dorothea christiane erxleben biography

KEYWORDS: 18th century, women scientists, first female medical doctorate in Germany

SHE THOUGHT IT

Dorothea Christiane Erxleben became famous for being the first woman to earn a doctorate degree in Germany. At the beginning of the 18^th century, a lot of people in Germany were treated by medical doctors who were very little educated and tried to heal their patients with witchcraft or therapies that often caused more harm than good³. This was the time when Dorothea Christiane Erxleben concluded her doctorate with a thesis that placed the highest priority on people’s safety in treatment³. In her opinion, the three duties of a doctor were – to treat quickly, pleasantly, and safely – with safety coming first³. Treatment that was too fast and too pleasant would often carry the risk of deteriorating the patient’s condition³. Nevertheless, Dorothea Christiane Erxleben became more famous for her critical writings about the reasons keeping females from studying. After her doctorate, it took more than 100 years, until 1899, for t

•

•