Inventory of the Lydia Rabinowitsch-Kempner Autograph Book and Papers, 1879-1885, 1910-1933 and undated

Abstract

Lydia Rabinowitsch-Kempner (1871-1935) was a German bacteriologist and one of the first women to reach the rank of Professor in Germany.

The Lydia Rabinowitsch-Kempner Autograph Book and Papers date from the late nineteenth and early twentieth-century, and contain letters written to Rabinowitsch-Kempner from leading German scientists, as well as a reprint and three photographs. Correspondents include Robert and Hedwig Koch, Paul Ehrlich, Emil Behring, Richard Pfeiffer, and Alexandre Besredka, as well as calling cards with notations from Lord Joseph Lister, Elie (Ilija) Metchnikoff, and Albert Calmette. Many of the letters and calling cards are arranged in a bound scrapbook, and relate to personal as well as professional matters. The collection also contains a series of six letters from Max von Pettenkofer to Paul Lindau, editor of Nord und Süd,. Acquired as part of the History of Medicine Collections at Duke University.

Descriptive Summary

Repository: David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University
Creator: Rabinowitsch-Kempner, Lydia, 1871-1935.
Title: Lydia Rabinowitsch-Kempner Autograph Book and Papers, 1879-1885, 1910-1933 and undated
Language of Material: German,, English
Extent: 1.0 Linear Feet, 15 Items
Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.

Series Quick Links

Lydia Rabinowitsch-Kempner Autograph Book and Papers, 1879-1885, 1910-1933 and undated

Collection Overview

The Lydia Rabinowitsch-Kempner Autograph Book and Papers date from the late nineteenth and early twentieth-century, and contain letters written to Rabinowitsch-Kempner from leading German scientists. Correspondents include Robert and Hedwig Koch, Paul Ehrlich, Emil Behring, Richard Pfeiffer, and Alexandre Besredka, as well as calling cards with notations from Lord Joseph Lister, Elie (Ilija) Metchnikoff, and Albert Calmette. Many of the letters and calling cards are arranged in a scrapbook, and relate to personal as well as professional matters. The collection also contains a series of six letters from Max von Pettenkofer to Paul Lindau, editor of Nord und Süd, and a reprint in English by Pettenkofer dating from the late nineteenth-century, as well as three photographs of Robert Koch, Paul Ehrlich, and Emil Behring.

Acquired as part of the History of Medicine Collections at Duke University.

Administrative Information

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Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

However, collection may contain materials to which the Acknowledgment of Legal Responsibilities and Privacy Rights form applies. Patrons must sign this form before using this collection.

Also, all or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. Consequently, there may be a 24-hour delay in obtaining these materials.

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Use Restrictions

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

Contents of the Collection

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Lydia Rabinowitsch-Kempner Autograph Book and Papers, 1879-1885, 1910-1933 and undated

(1 box)

Contains letters from several correspondents and three photographs of Robert Koch, Emil Behring, and Paul Ehrlich. The Behring and Ehrlich photographs are autographed to Rabinowitsch-Kempner. The scrapbook contains letters to Rabinowitsch-Kempner from Robert and Hedwig Koch, Paul Ehrlich, Emil von Behring, and Richard Pfeiffer, as well as calling cards with notations from Lord Joseph Lister, Elie Metchnikoff, Albert Calmette, and Amedée Borrel.

Letters from Max von Pettenkofer to Paul Lindau, 1879, 1884-1885

Box 1

Letters to Lydia Rabinowitsch-Kempner, 1910-1933 and undated

Box 1

Photographs, undated

Box 1

Max von Pettenkofer, Does Hygiene Pay?, Reprint from The Sanitary News, Chicago, Sept. 26, 1885

Box 1

Scrapbook with letters and calling cards

Box 1

Historical Note

Lydia Rabinowitsch-Kempner (1871-1935) was a bacteriologist who studied tuberculosis. She was born in Kovno, Lithuania and studied in Zurich and Bern. In 1912, she became the first woman in Berlin and the second woman in Prussia to reach the rank of Professor. Rabinowitsch-Kempner worked with Robert Koch at the Institute for Infectious Diseases (Institut für Infektionskrankheiten). In 1895, Rabinowitsch-Kempner went to the United States to teach at the Women's Medical College in Philadelphia and established a bacteriology laboratory there. Returning to Germany, she edited the Zeitschrift für Tuberkulose from 1914 to 1934 and became associate professor of pathology and director of the bacteriological department at Berlin University, Moabit Hospital in 1920. After the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, Rabinowitsch-Kempner was forcibly retired in 1934.

Lydia Rabinowitsch-Kempner married Walter Kempner, another assistant to Robert Koch, in 1898 and had two sons, Walter Kempner and Robert Kempner, and a daughter. Walter Kempner came to Duke Medical Center in 1933 and Robert Kempner was a prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials. Lydia Rabinowitsch-Kempner died in Berlin in 1935.