Marie Heim-Vögtlin

In response and with the reluctant support of her father, Vögtlin applied for admission herself to the study of medicine at the University of Zürich, which had been the first medical faculty in Europe to admit women.

[1] After Vögtlin passed the examinations with honours,[2] she studied gynaecology in Leipzig and worked in a Dresden maternity ward.

Although her practice had few clients at first, Vögtlin soon acquired a reputation as a capable and well-liked physician, and was particularly noted for her generosity towards poor women.

[1] In 1875, she married the noted geologist Albert Heim after he had given his permission (as required by law at that time) for her to continue working after marriage.

Heim-Vögtlin was a co-founder of the Schweizerische Pflegerinnenschule mit Spital, Switzerland's first gynaecological hospital, which also featured a maternity ward and nurses' school.