Charlotte von Siebold

Origin and education Charlotte was the first child of Georg Heiland and his wife Regina. After Georg Heiland’s death, Regina Josepha Heiland married (Johann Theodor) Damian von Siebold (1769-1828), the city doctor and medical officer of Darmstadt from Göttingen, known as the “Starstich” surgeon, and son of Carl Caspar von Siebold. Damian of Siebold adopted Charlotte and her sister Therese, with both receiving his surname. To improve the family income, Josepha von Siebold worked in her husband’s practice. Later, she even studied medicine and received the , an honorary doctorate of childbirth, in 1815 from the University of Giessen. In 1814, Charlotte passed the exam for obstetrics before the "Grand Duchy of Hesse Grand-Ducal Medicinal-Collegium" in Darmstadt and was allowed to practise as an obstetrician from then on. On 26 March 1817, she became a , a "doctor of obstetrics" with the thesis work titled "Using pregnancy outside the cervical and abdominal pregnancies in particular". == Tribute ==

On 9 June 1854, the birthday of Louis III, Grand Duke of Hesse, she was the only woman to be awarded the Knight Cross of the Order of Philip the Magnanimous. In Darmstadt, the Heidenreichstraße is named after her. Founded after her death in Darmstadt, the Heidenreich-von Sieboldsche Stiftung zur Unterstützung von armen Wöchnerinnen was later transformed into Darmstädter Stiftung für Wohltätigkeitszwecke’. Since 2006, the Medical Faculty of the University of Göttingen has launched the ‘Heidenreich von Siebold Programm’ to support female scientists. The Charlotte Heidenreich von Siebold Prize, named after her, is awarded every two years by the Entega Foundation. ==Notes==