Gabriele Possanner

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"Dr. Gabriele Edle von Possanner, the first female doctor in Vienna "(1897)
Commemorative plaque on the house at Vienna 9th , Alser Strasse 26, where Gabriele Possanner lived and worked
Gabriele Possanner's grave in Vienna's central cemetery

Baron Gabriele Barbara Maria Possanner von Ehrenthal (born January 27, 1860 in Buda , Kingdom of Hungary , Austrian Empire , † March 14, 1940 in Vienna ) was an Austrian doctor. After long struggles, she was the first woman who was allowed to do a doctorate at an Austrian-Hungarian university .

Origin and education

Gabriele Possanner von Ehrenthal was born in Buda as the daughter of Benjamin Freiherr Possanner von Ehrenthal. Her father's frequent transfers meant that Gabriele Possanner lived in six different cities until 1880, when her father , who was promoted to section head in the Ministry of Finance, settled in Vienna. First she graduated from a teacher training institute and graduated from the Academic Gymnasium in Vienna as an external student in 1887 , which, as a woman, did not entitle her to study at a university in the Danube Monarchy.

Between 1888 and 1893 she studied medicine in Geneva and Zurich . However, the legal situation in Switzerland required a Swiss Matura certificate in order to be admitted to the 1st state examination. On June 28, 1890, Gabriele Possanner passed her second school leaving examination. After completing her doctorate in medicine in 1894 and thus having the right to work as a general practitioner in all cantons of Switzerland, she returned to Vienna.

Professional background

The only option open to her in order to work as a doctor in the Danube Monarchy was to accept a post as a medical officer in Bosnia and Herzegovina , where Muslim women refused to be treated by male doctors. But she wanted to practice in Vienna.

With numerous requests and petitions to various offices, she employed a total of two interior ministers, three ministers for culture and education, four rectors, four deans of the medical faculty and, most recently, Emperor Franz Joseph I personally. This finally authorized the Minister of the Interior to approve her approval as a gynecologist and obstetrician, if the board of directors of the 1st obstetric clinic would confirm her professional competence.

On March 19, 1896, an ordinance came into force, which made the nostrification of foreign doctoral degrees possible. Gabriele Possanner then applied to the medical dean's office for the nostrification of her Swiss diploma and received a positive answer. However, she had to take all theoretical and practical exams again.

On March 29, 1897, she finished the third Rigorosum , on April 2, 1897 she was the first woman in the Austro-Hungarian monarchy to complete her doctorate . On May 10th of the same year she opened a practice as a general practitioner. In 1902 she took up a position as an aspirant at the Crown Princess Stephanie Hospital at Thaliastraße 44 in Vienna's 16th district of Ottakring . Until 1903 she was the only woman who worked as a doctor at one of the kk hospitals.

In the subsequent elections of the Medical Association it turned out that she was not entitled to vote. Her protest was initially rejected on the grounds that, as a woman, she had neither the right to vote nor to stand as a candidate . In the next election in 1904, however, she was already eligible to vote and was even elected as a "substitute member". In 1928 she was awarded the title of Medical Councilor.

Gabriele Barbara Maria Possanner died on March 14, 1940 in her apartment at Alser Straße 26.

Reactions to the doctorate

The Vienna Sunday and Monday newspaper in the edition of April 5, 1897 quotes from the speech of its doctoral supervisor on this occasion:

“Since women are not inferior to men in terms of intelligence and willpower, it cannot be seen why higher professional groups should remain closed to women. If empresses and queens have earned immortal fame in history through active and wise government, why should women be considered incapable of being able to work beneficially in higher professional circles? "

The author of the article also takes a position:

“We can only repeat what we have emphasized on earlier occasions: year after year there are victims who perished only because they did not want to seek help from male doctors out of a feeling of shame and could not find it from women because it has been with us so far there were no female doctors. We therefore wish that Miss. v. Possaner (!) May soon receive sufficient female competition. "

Honors

Possannergasse street sign
  • At the age of 68 she was awarded the title of Medical Councilor , which had existed since 1912 .
  • In 1960 Possannergasse in the 13th district of Hietzing in Vienna was named after her.
  • A memorial plaque was placed on her home at Alser Strasse 26.
  • The Ministry of Science has awarded the Gabriele Possanner State Prize for scientific achievements in the service of gender democracy since 1997 .
  • In 2004, Gabriele Possanner Park , located on Zimmermannplatz in Vienna's 9th district, was named after her.

literature

Web links

Commons : Gabriele Possanner von Ehrenthal  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gabriele Possanner Institute for Interdisciplinary Research: Biography gabrielepossanner.eu
  2. ↑ Fragments from the Week, The First Female Doctor. In:  Wiener Sonntags-Zeitung / Wiener Sonn- und Mondags-Zeitung , April 5, 1897, p. 2 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / wsz
  3. ↑ Fragments from the Week, The First Female Doctor. In:  Wiener Sonntags-Zeitung / Wiener Sonn- und Mondags-Zeitung , April 5, 1897, p. 3 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / wsz
personal data
SURNAME Possanner, Gabriele
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Possanner von Ehrenthal, Gabriele Barbara Maria Freiin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian doctor
DATE OF BIRTH January 27, 1860
PLACE OF BIRTH Buda , Austrian Empire
DATE OF DEATH March 14, 1940
Place of death Vienna