Friedrich Wilhelm Scanzoni von Lichtenfels (21 December 1821 – 12 June 1891) was a German gynecologist and obstetrician born in Prague, in the Austrian Empire. He studied medicine in Prague, and spent most of his professional career as chair of obstetrics (1850–1888) at the University of Würzburg, where he succeeded Franz Kiwisch von Rotterau. Scanzoni was a leading authority of obstetrics in 19th-century Europe. He is best remembered today for the birthing procedure known as the "Scanzoni maneuver". In 1849 he was a major factor in the appointment of Rudolf Virchow to the chair of pathological anatomy at the University of Würzburg. He was an ardent critic of Ignaz Semmelweis. However, in later years, he became convinced Semmelweis was correct, even if he did not like to admit it.

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Selected writings