Friedrich Wilhelm Scanzoni von Lichtenfels

Who was Friedrich Wilhelm Scanzoni von Lichtenfels?

Friedrich Wilhelm Scanzoni von Lichtenfels was a German gynecologist and obstetrician who was a native of Prague.

He studied medicine in Prague, and spent most of his professional career as chair of obstetrics at the University of Würzburg, where he succeeded Franz Kiwisch von Rotterau.

Scanzoni was a leading authority of obstetrics in 19th-century Europe. He is best remembered today for the birthing procedure known as the "Scanzoni maneuver". In 1849 he was a major factor in the appointment of Rudolf Virchow to the chair of pathological anatomy at the University of Würzburg. He was an ardent critic of Ignaz Semmelweis.