Marie Colinet: renaissance surgeon challenged expectations
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In Switzerland and Germany during the 16th and 17th centuries, Marie Colinet, a midwife and surgeon, advanced medical techniques despite societal limits on women.
Born around 1560 in Geneva, Switzerland, Colinet married Wilhelm Fabry, known as the “father of German surgery.” She studied surgery alongside him and, according to Fabry himself, surpassed his skill. Colinet assisted her husband in surgeries and cared for patients when he travelled, but also established herself as a skilled clinician in her own right.
Colinet made important contributions to ophthalmology, obstetrics, and general surgery. In 1624, she was the first person to use a magnet to remove a metal splinter from a patient’s eye, a micro-surgical technique that Fabry documented in his writings. She also became known as the “most famous midwife in Switzerland” and is credited with performing one of the first successful cesarean sections in 1603, pioneering the use of heat to dilate the uterus during childbirth.
Beyond surgical innovations, Colinet managed a large and successful obstetrics and surgery practice while raising eight children. Her humanist approach combined experimental techniques with empathetic care for vulnerable patients. Today, she is remembered through artistic works like Judy Chicago’s The Dinner Party, and in Germany, a street and a secondary school bear her name.
