Carl Edvard Marius Levy

Who was Carl Edvard Marius Levy?

Carl Edvard Marius Levy was professor and head of the Danish Maternity institution in Copenhagen. His name is sometimes spelled "Carl Eduard Marius Levy" or, in foreign literature, "Karl Edouard Marius Levy".

Levy graduated 1831 from Copenhagen University in Medicine and surgery. Received the university gold medal in 1830. Licentiat degree in 1832. Doctorate degree in 1833. He then embarked on a three-year scientific journey which took him to France, Italy and England. Professor extraordinarius in obstetrics in 1841, professor ordinarius in 1850.

He founded the monthly medical journal: Hospitals-Meddelelser. He also founded the Doctor's Association Den Almindelige Danske Lægeforening in 1857, which he headed until 1859. He suffered and eventually died from a heart defect.

He was born Jewish but converted to Christianity in 1840-1841 in order to pursue an academic career.

According to his biography, rampant epidemics of childbed fever at the Copenhagen maternity institution tested his ingenuity and determination. Repeated closures of the institution and the creation of interim locales proved fruitless.