Question: who was the first person to demonstrate that hand washing saved lives from infection
Answer: Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis ( German : ( ɪˈɡnaːts ˈzɛml̩vaɪs ) ; Hungarian : Semmelweis Ignác Fülöp ; 1 July 1818 -- 13 August 1865 ) was a Hungarian physician of ethnic - German ancestry , now known as an early pioneer of antiseptic procedures .