Carl Edvard Marius Levy (10 September 1808 – 30 December 1865) was professor and head of the Danish Maternity institution in Copenhagen (Fødsels- og Plejestiftelsen).

According to his biography, rampant epidemics of childbed fever at the Copenhagen maternity institution tested his ingenuity and determination.

Semmelweis theorized that decaying matter on the hands of doctors, who had recently conducted autopsies, was brought into contact with the genitals of women giving birth during the medical examinations at the maternity clinic.

Semmelweis proposed a radical hand washing theory using chlorinated lime, now a known disinfectant, and demonstrated dramatic reductions in mortality rates.

In a rather infamous concluding remark,[6] Professor Levy writes: These are my impressions of Dr. Semmelweis's experiences; for these reasons I must judge provisionally that his opinions are not clear enough and his findings not exact enough to qualify as scientifically founded.