Gertie F. Marx, M.D., was a pioneer in anesthesiology, helping to advance the care of obstetric patients and eventually to establish obstetric anesthesiology as a subspecialty. Often called “the Mother of Obstetric Anesthesiology” and the “Grand Dame” of obstetric anesthesiology, she passed away on January 25, 2004.1,2 Dr. Marx’s passion for obstetric anesthesiology lives on through the Gertie Marx Research and Education Fund, which she established at FAER before her death.
Gertie’s investment in the future of obstetric anesthesiology came only after many challenges in her own career. She was born in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1912 and entered the Medical School of the University of Frankfurt in 1931.2 The rise of Nazism forced Gertie to transfer to the University of Bern in Switzerland, where she received her M.D. degree in 1937.
Gertie immigrated to the U.S. two months after completing her M.D. degree. She interned at...