This short, genealogical article summarized the history of the Semmelweis family, focusing on the Semmelweis living in a small Hungarian town, Zirc. The Semmelweis-ancestors probably came to Hungary from Rhineland (Germany) in the 17th century. Ignác Fülöp, Semmelweis' father moved to Buda in 1806, where he started a small, but flourishing grocery, the "White Elephant" in the building owned today by the Semmelweis Museum of the History of Medicine. Based on archival sources, author supposes that other members of the family had already lived in Buda before Joseph Semmelweis moved there. During the 19th century several members of the Semmelweis family changed their name to "Szemerkényi" which later proved to be a problem for the widow of I. P. Semmelweis, who, when her husband was made a "national hero", could not regain the former name. Today the descendants of the Semmelweis family are living dispersed all over the world (in France, Sweden, Australia, etc.). Some members of the family, e.g. Károly Semmelweis, Ferenc Semmelweis and Ernö Remsey worked also as physicians.

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