Dorothea Christiane Leporin Erxleben

"Ein jeder will gern ein verständiges Weib haben, aber die Mittel des Verstandes will man ihnen nicht zulassen."
Dorothea Christiane Erxleben

 

The Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg reminds of Dorothea Christiane Leporin Erxleben (1715-1762) by the establishment of this professorship. She was Prussia's first doctor and lived and worked as a doctor in Quedlinburg.

She received her education together with her brother from her father, who as a convinced representative of the early Enlightenment was opposed to talented women atrophying their skills in housework. At the age of 23, she published a paper in which she refuted the common reasons put forward against studying women. She herself was unable to begin the planned study, which was only possible with the special permission of King Frederick II.

After her father's death she continued his practice. She married a widower with five children. In the course of this marriage she gave birth to four children of her own.

On 12 June 1754 she passed her doctorate at the University of Halle and acquired the right to practice as a doctor. In addition to her work as a housewife and mother, she practiced as a doctor in Quedlinburg until her death in 1762.

 

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