Gustav Adolf Michaelis

In 1823 he returned to Kiel and served as an assistant to his uncle, who held the position of director at the city lying-in hospital.

He performed extensive research on difficulties associated with a "narrow pelvis" and its relationship to childbirth, of which he documented in a treatise called Das Enge Becken: Nach eigenen Beobachtungen und Untersuchungen.

In 1830 he published his work Über das Leuchten der Ostsee, where for the first time described the fluorescent microorganisms in the Baltic Sea.

[6] After being informed of Ignaz Semmelweis's theory of prophylaxis for prevention of puerperal fever, Michaelis was one of the first obstetricians to adopt the practice of compulsory chlorine handwashing.

[7] He later became severely depressed over the number of women (including a beloved niece) who had died from puerperal fever due to unsanitary obstetrical practices, and on 8 August 1848, Michaelis committed suicide in Lehrte, Germany.