The Belgian gynecologist Ferdinand Peeters proposed to Schering AG in Berlin the formulation of norethisterone acetate with ethinylestradiol to suppress ovulation for contraceptive purposes — an idea Schering's own scientists had not considered. The result was Anovlar, launched in Germany in 1961: the first combined contraceptive pill outside the United States, the first with a clinically acceptable rate of side effects, and the one that spread worldwide. Peeters died in 1998 without having received public recognition for his role. A 2012 academic article explicitly described him as "a forgotten founding father of the Pill."