[1] Carl Mayrhofer was a son of physician, he was recognized as an unusually bright student first at Kremsmünster Gymnasium, then at the Vienna University.
One of his colleagues was Ferdinand von Hebra, a close friend of the discoverer of puerperal fever and founder of asepsis Ignaz Semmelweis.
[1] In 1862, Mayrhofer was appointed second assistant to professor Carl Braun in the maternity clinic at Vienna General Hospital.
[6] In an 1865 publication Mayrhofer concluded that infection was usually the result of contaminated hands thus rejecting Braun's concept and supporting Ignaz Semmelweis' rivalling theory.
He faced numerous disappointments and frustrations, lost all interest in life and eventually died from long sickness in Franzensbad.