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ENTITY shares more on Dorothea Christiane Erxleben.

Before there was Dr. Oz, there was Dorothea Christiane Erxleben. Dorothea was the first female doctor in Germany and she pioneered the way for women like Elizabeth Blackwell, the first female doctor in America.

What was life like before and after she attained the title of Germany’s first female doctor? Well, here are five facts you should know about Dorothea Christiane Erxleben’s life.

ENTITY shares more on Dorothea Christiane Erxleben.

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1 Dorothea Christiane Erxleben’s father was very open minded for his time.

Even though it was the 1700s, Dorothea Christiane Erxleben had a very liberal upbringing. Erxleben’s father, Christian Polycarp Leporin, was an open-minded person, thanks to the Enlightenment period.

In a time when it was still taboo for a woman to go to college, Dorothea’s dad believed that his daughter deserved to have the best education. From home, she was required to take Latin lessons taught by a local Lutheran pastor. Her father also educated her on both the theoretical and practical arts of medicine.

The Leporin family took pride in being known as hard working and educated. The expectation was no different for women.

ENTITY shares more on Dorothea Christiane Erxleben.

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2 Laura Bassi inspired Dorothea Christiane Erxleben to go into medicine.

First female physics professor Laura Bassi inspired Dorothea Christiane Erxleben to pursue her dreams of becoming a doctor. Like Erxleben, Bassi was a gifted child who gained recognition for her intelligence and also became the first female member of the Bologna Academy of Sciences.

Word of Bassi’s accomplishments traveled from Italy to Germany. Bassi’s stance was that women should be admitted into universities alongside men. Thus, Dorothea took a similar stance when advocating for women in higher education in her thesis.

ENTITY shares more on Dorothea Christiane Erxleben.

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3 She pointed out prejudices against women in one of her Enlightenment Feminist pieces.

In the olden days, women were kept from attaining a college degree on the basis of sex. Scholars classified women as feeble, emotional and not as intelligent as males. Erxleben countered this argument with the fact that many men possess these traits as well.

And to prove that women are just as intellectually talented as men, she gave various examples of successful women throughout history. Lastly, she argued that even though women are not as physically strong as men, this should not prohibit women from being allowed to study at a university.

ENTITY shares more on Dorothea Christiane Erxleben.

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4 She shut down her male counterparts when they accused her of quackery.

Doreatha took over her father’s practice in 1747 after his death. This didn’t sit well with local physicians, however. When one patient died in her facility they saw an opportunity to destroy her reputation as a doctor. They accused her of “quackery” and being a doctor that did not meet certified standards.

But, the first female doctor did not take this lightly so she volunteered to present a scholarly thesis to clear her name. Erxleben’s dissertation discussed how “pleasant” tasting medicines were actually harmful to a patients’ health in the long run.

She exceeded the examiners’ expectations and was given a doctorate. The dissertation was published and also gave recognition to her old Latin teacher, Tobias Eckhard.

ENTITY shares more on Dorothea Christiane Erxleben .

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5 She lost her life to breast cancer.

Before her death, she became a mother of four with husband Johann Christian Erxleben. After only practicing medicine for eight years, Dorothea passed away at 47 due to breast cancer. At the time, breast cancer research was scarce and many theories about it were still being developed.

But although she only practiced medicine for a brief time, we will always remember how she paved a path for women in medicine.

In the words of feminist Gloria Steinem, ‪”Feminism has never been about getting a job for one woman. It’s about making life more fair for women everywhere. It’s not about a piece of the existing pie; there are too many of us for that. It’s about baking a new pie.”‬

Cheers to you, Dorothea!

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