Marie Colinet was not only a skilful midwife, but also an inventive doctor. Illustration by Marco Heer.
Marie Colinet was not only a skilful midwife, but also an inventive doctor. Illustration by Marco Heer.

Switzerland’s most famous midwife

Marie Colinet, a Geneva native and pioneer in the field of medicine, made history in the 16th century. She initiated a number of innovative procedures as a midwife and doctor – including Switzerland’s first successful caesarean section.

Christophe Vuilleumier

Christophe Vuilleumier

Christophe Vuilleumier is a historian and board member of the Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Geschichte (Swiss Historical Society). He has published a number of articles on 17th and 20th century Swiss history.

In the 16th century, when women were largely seen and not heard in the medical world and their contribution was often overlooked, Marie Colinet soared like a comet to the top of the medical profession. Not only was she a midwife, she was also a fearless pioneer who showed courage, intellect and ingenuity in paving the way for some modern medical procedures.

Marie Colinet was born in Geneva in 1560. Her family had envisaged a traditional role for her: Marie was to become a midwife. But she wanted more. A lot more. In 1587, she met surgeon Guillaume Fabri, an event which was to fundamentally change the course of her life and career. She shared more than love with Fabri, one of the most prominent doctors of his day. They also had a vision: to create life-saving medical procedures, even when considerable risk was involved.
Portrait of Guillaume Fabri, also known as Wilhelm Fabry.
Portrait of Guillaume Fabri, also known as Wilhelm Fabry. Wikimedia
Marie Colinet’s husband taught her the basics of surgery – from treating bone fractures to complicated operations. But it wasn’t long before her natural flair began to shine through. Her most revolutionary vision lay in her novel ideas about midwifery. She had the courage to adopt new approaches to caesarean sections, which at the time almost invariably led to the death of the mother. Marie had the groundbreaking idea of stimulating the uterus through heat during labour. Guillaume was initially unsure, but Marie’s powers of persuasion and keen intellect won through.

The big breakthrough finally came in 1603: Marie performed her first C-section in Payerne (canton of Vaud), saving the life of both mother and child in the process. News of this sensation spread like wildfire. Suddenly her name was known throughout Europe: Marie Colinet, “Switzerland’s most famous midwife” was born. Caesarean sections were very rare in those days. A hundred years before Colinet, Jacob Nufer, an animal castrator from the Thurgau region, is said to have been the first in the country to operate on his wife.
Depiction of a caesarean section in the book Suetonius’ Lives of the Twelve Caesars, 1506.
Depiction of a caesarean section in the book u003cemu003eSuetonius’ Lives of the Twelve Caesarsu003c/emu003e, 1506. akg-images / Universal Images Group
However, Marie Colinet was also much more than a midwife. Her medical curiosity and practical outlook equipped her for all medical fields. She once treated a man with broken ribs, again opting to do it her own way: she was the first person to cut open the wounded area, set the bone fragments and heal the incision with a mixture of rose oil, barley, pomegranate blossoms and raw eggs (her own concoction). Even Guillaume, who later described this method in a book, was astonished at his wife’s abilities.

Colinet’s boldest innovation was possibly in 1624 when she extracted a metal fragment from a patient’s eye with a magnet. By doing so, she not only showed a touch of genius but also the resolve to take a risk and try something new at a time when most doctors still believed in bloodletting and leeches.
Marie Colinet started out as a midwife and went on to become one of the most influential doctors of her time.
Marie Colinet started out as a midwife and went on to become one of the most influential doctors of her time. Wikimedia
But there were also other forces beyond revolutionary medicine that shaped Marie and Guillaume’s life. The Thirty Years’ War, which shook Europe, brought precarity into the lives of the Protestant couple. They moved several times and ended up in Bern, which they saw as a safe place.

Guillaume died in 1634, but Marie remained unrivalled in the medical profession until her death in 1638. She was the one who questioned the conventional wisdom of the day, pushed the boundaries and showed men that women also have a place at the cutting edge of science. She died aged 78.

Marie Colinet was more than a doctor and midwife – she was a revolutionary who changed the course of medicine with a magnet, a mixture of ointments and an unshakeable conviction. Although her name may not be as famous as her husband’s these days, her achievements nonetheless shine forth as an example of what women can do if they believe in themselves.

Published on: 11.02.2025

Modified on: 07.10.2025

URL: https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/en/2025/02/switzerlands-most-famous-midwife/

More of: Modern AgeEducationWomen in history

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