Hans Spemann

Hans Spemann is a German embryologist who was born June 6, 1869, in Stuttgart, Württemberg, and died on September 12th, 1941. Spearman studied medicine at the University of Heidelberg and later pursued zoology at the University of Würzburg (Tagarelli et al. 2004). In 1914, Spemann became a professor of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy at Rostock University and then later a professor of zoology at the University of Freiburg-im-Breisgau. Spemann remained at the University of Freiburg-im-Breisgau until 1935 becoming professor emeritus (Tagarelli et al. 2004). Spemann is considered the pioneer of microsurgery and is famous for winning the Nobel Prize for the discovery of the organizer effect in embryonic development (Tagarelli et al. 2004; Hamburger 1985). 

Salome Gluecksohn-Waelsch's relationship with Hans Spemann was not a fruitful one. Salome describes Spemann as “old and an antisemite, and also a strong anti-feminist” (Gilbert 2001). Although Spemann accepted her as his student, he did not approve of her which exemplifies the tension between researchers and their graduate students due to sexism and discrimination at the time. Due to gender roles, women were expected to prepare for family life and it was extremely difficult for women to do science without facing significant societal barriers (Kohlstedt 2004). Although it is not disclosed that Spemman supported the Nazis, it is reported that he performed the German salute when receiving the Nobel Prize (Brandt 2022). Furthermore, Spemann's speech was said to have a nationalistic attitude and this suggests that Spemann may have discriminated against Salome because he harbored anti-Semitic views since she was Jewish in origin. Many significant advancements in embryology originated from Spemann's laboratory and were performed by mistreated women in science such as Salome and Mangold.