Marie Colinet
Encyclopedia
Marie Colinet (ca. 1560 - ca. 1640), the daughter of a Swiss printer, was born in Geneva
, Switzerland
.
On July 25, 1587, at St. Gervais church in Geneva
, she married a surgeon, Wilhelm Fabry
(also William Fabry, Guilelmus Fabricius Hildanus, or Fabricius von Hilden, b. June 25, 1560, d. February 15, 1634, often called the "Father of German surgery").
By training, Colinet was a midwife-surgeon who perfected the techniques in Germany
of Caesarean section
delivery (which hadn't changed since the days of Julius Caesar
). In addition, she assisted her husband in his surgical practice and took care of his patients while he was traveling. In 1624, after her husband had attempted unsuccessfully to extract metal from a patient's eye, she came up with the idea to use a magnet—a technique which worked then and still is in use today. Her husband wrote a detailed description of the procedure (in his Centuriae), explicitly mentioning his wife as having invented it. However, it was he who was given credit for her discovery.
She was the mother of eight children, only one of whom (Johannes, later a surgeon himself) outlived her. Documents of her whereabouts after the death of her husband have not yet been found.
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
On July 25, 1587, at St. Gervais church in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
, she married a surgeon, Wilhelm Fabry
Wilhelm Fabry
Wilhelm Fabry , often called the "Father of German surgery", was the first educated and scientific German surgeon. He is one of the most prominent scholars in the iatromechanics school and author of 20 medical books...
(also William Fabry, Guilelmus Fabricius Hildanus, or Fabricius von Hilden, b. June 25, 1560, d. February 15, 1634, often called the "Father of German surgery").
By training, Colinet was a midwife-surgeon who perfected the techniques in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
of Caesarean section
Caesarean section
A Caesarean section, is a surgical procedure in which one or more incisions are made through a mother's abdomen and uterus to deliver one or more babies, or, rarely, to remove a dead fetus...
delivery (which hadn't changed since the days of Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
). In addition, she assisted her husband in his surgical practice and took care of his patients while he was traveling. In 1624, after her husband had attempted unsuccessfully to extract metal from a patient's eye, she came up with the idea to use a magnet—a technique which worked then and still is in use today. Her husband wrote a detailed description of the procedure (in his Centuriae), explicitly mentioning his wife as having invented it. However, it was he who was given credit for her discovery.
She was the mother of eight children, only one of whom (Johannes, later a surgeon himself) outlived her. Documents of her whereabouts after the death of her husband have not yet been found.