It was a doodle of Ignaz Semmelweis, a 19th-century Hungarian doctor who was known as the pioneer of hand ...SkiptomaincontentSearchInputsearchSectionsSectionsTheWashingtonPostDemocracyDiesinDarknessSigninprofileSigninprofilehomeHomeshareSharecomment0TheWashingtonPostDemocracyDiesinDarknessIgnazPhilippSemmelweis,aHungariandoctor,discoveredmeansagainstchildbedfever.(AP)(AssociatedPress/ASSOCIATEDPRESS)ByMeaganFlynnMarch23,2020at10:44a.m.UTCOvertheweekend,animageofamustachioedmanwithbeadyeyesandabaldheadandwearinganold-timeysuitappearedonthehomepageofGooglepleadingwithustowashourhands.ItwasadoodleofIgnazSemmelweis,a19th-centuryHungariandoctorwhowasknownasthepioneerofhand-washing.Hediscoveredthewondersofthenow-basichygienicpracticeasawaytostopthespreadofinfectionin1847,duringanexperimentinaViennahospital’smaternityward.Supportourjournalism.Subscribetoday.arrow-rightButifSemmelweiswerealivetoday,heprobablywouldbeamazedtofindthatbillionswerenowhearinghispleasamidadevastatingpandemic.That’sbecauseinhisday,notevendoctorscaredtowashtheirhands.Manydidn’tcaretoheedSemmelweis’swarnings,either.StorycontinuesbelowadvertisementNow,as“washyourhands”isscreamedatusfromthemouthsofpublicofficials,onhighwaybillboardsandfromdoctorsaroundtheworld,thestoryofSemmelweis’santisepticsbreakthroughhasfounddeeperresonance.Hehasbeendescribedasamartyrinlifeandaheromuchlater.Hisadvicewasfinallyputtogooduseonlyafterhedied.AdvertisementAsGoogleputitinitstribute,Semmelweishasinformed"generationsbeyondhisownthathandwashingisoneofthemosteffectivewaystopreventthespreadofdiseases.”“It’sunfortunateittakesasituationliketheonewe’reexperiencingnowforhimtogethisdue,”JordanH.Perlow,aPhoenix-basedobstetricianwhoteachesattheUniversityofArizonaCollegeofMedicine,toldTheWashingtonPost.“It’sthekindofthingwhere,fromtheperspectiveoftheyear2020,youlookbackandthink,‘Howcouldsomethingasfundamentalandbasicandprimitiveaswashingone’shandsbelookedatinsuchanegativeway?’”Semmelweis,borninHungaryin1818,startedworkingatViennaGene