The identification of tubercle bacilli in raw milk in 1904 provided the foundational evidence for dairy safety regulations. Executed by Lydia Rabinowitsch-Kempner, this discovery addressed a critical public health concern that Robert Koch had previously investigated without success. Her career spanned international research environments, eventually establishing her as a prominent figure in German bacteriological science and hospital administration.
Early Education and Scientific Training
Denied access to higher education in Russia due to gender and religious restrictions, she attended the girls' gymnasium in Kovno, receiving private instruction in Latin and Greek. She relocated to Switzerland, enrolling at the University of Zurich to study natural sciences. In 1894, she earned a doctorate from the University of Bern. Following this, she moved to Berlin to work under Robert Koch at the Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases, serving as his only unpaid female apprentice.
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In 1895, she moved to Philadelphia to accept a position at the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania, where she served as a lecturer and subsequently a professor. Returning to Berlin in April 1898, she married the bacteriologist Walter Kempner. Her professional path included studying the plague in Odessa in 1902 and researching African trypanosomiasis in East Africa alongside Koch. In 1912, she became the first woman to be granted a professorship in Berlin, an achievement that triggered public anti-Semitic backlash.
Bacteriological Research and Clinical Leadership
Her research centered on the transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium bovis. Beyond her work with raw milk, she contributed to the development of the Freund adjuvant and assisted the Pasteur Institute in resolving the BCG vaccine crisis after accidental contamination occurred in Lubock. She served as editor of the Zeitschrift für Tuberkulose from 1914 until 1933. Locally, she directed the Bacteriological Institute of the Moabit Hospital, Berlin’s second most significant medical facility.
Political Displacement and Death
Her career in Germany ended abruptly in 1933 following the rise of the Nazi regime. As part of a widespread boycott of Jewish institutions, she was dismissed from her professional roles and barred from further academic practice. She died two years later, on 3 August 1935, at age 64, from breast cancer. She was interred in a family grave in Berlin. Her three children included the jurist Robert Kempner and the medical doctor Walter Kempner Jr.
Fast facts
- Born: 1871, Kaunas
- Died: 3 August 1935, Berlin
- Doctorate: University of Bern, 1894
- Citizenship: Germany
- Notable Work: Identification of tubercle bacilli in raw milk
- Professional Role: Director, Bacteriological Institute of Moabit Hospital
- Spouse: Walter Kempner
Questions readers ask
Did she hold a professorship?
Yes, in 1912 she became the first woman to be granted the title of professor in Berlin.
What was the significance of her 1904 discovery?
She identified tubercle bacilli in raw milk, a finding that advanced the understanding of how Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium bovis are transmitted.
Achievements
- Held posts at Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania
- Fields: bacteriology
