List of first female physicians by country

This is a list of the first qualified female physician to practice in each country, where that is known. Many, if not all, countries have had female physicians since time immemorial; however, modern systems of qualification have often commenced as male only, whether de facto or de jure. This lists the first women physicians in modern countries. The dates given in parentheses below are the dates the women graduated from medical school.

Africa

CountryPhysicianYear graduated

medical school

Year began

practice

 AlgeriaAldjia Noureddine-Benallègue[1]19461946
 AngolaMelba Dias Costa[2]1950
 BeninSolange Faladé[3][4]1955
 BotswanaNolwandle Nozipo Mashalaba[5]1965
 Burkina FasoBibiane Kone[6]
 BurundiMarcelline Ntakibirora[7]19821983
 CameroonGladys Ejomi[8]1962
 Cape VerdeMaria Francisca de Oliveira Sousa[9][10]
 ChadGrace Kodindo[11]1977
 ComorosZaitouni Abdou[12]
 Democratic Republic of CongoLouise Celia Fleming[13][14]18951895
 EgyptHilana Sedarous[15][16]19301930
 Equatorial GuineaMargarita Roka Elobo[17][18]
 EswatiniFanny Friedman[19]
 EthiopiaWidad Kidanemariam[20]c. 1960s
 GambiaKinneh Sogur[21]2007
 GhanaSusan Ofori-Atta[22]19491949
 Ivory CoastChristiane Welffens-Ekra[23][24]c. 1975
 KenyaMary de Sousa[25]1919
 LesothoBertha Hardegger[26] (born in Switzerland)1937
 LiberiaFlorence Gbeye D. McClain[27]1962
 LibyaYounes Qwaider[1]1969
 MadagascarMarthe Ramiaramanana-Ralivao[28]1950
 MalawiVida Mungwira[29][30] (the country was then known as Nyasaland)1956
 MaliDiaka Diawara Sacko[31]
 MauritaniaNusaiba Abdel-Qader and Meimouna mint Mohamed Lemine[32][33]20152015
 MauritiusSajeda Vayid[34]1965
 MoroccoFrançoise Legey[35] (born in France)19001909
 NamibiaLibertina Amathila[36]19691969
 NigeriaElizabeth Abimbola Awoliyi[37]19381938
 Republic of CongoYvonne Obenga[38][39]c. 1970s
 São Tomé and PríncipeJulieta da Graça do Espírito Santo[40][41]1955
 SenegalMarie-Thérèse Basse[42]19571958
 SeychellesHilda Stevenson-Delhomme[43]1939
 Sierra LeoneIrene Ighodaro[44][45]1945
 SomaliaHawa Abdi[46]19711971
 South AfricaJane Elizabeth Waterston[47]1880
 SudanKhalida Zahir[48]19521952
Zaroui Sarkissian[49][50]1952
 TanzaniaEsther Mwaikambo[51]19691969
 TunisiaTewhida Ben Sheikh[1]19361936
 UgandaJosephine Nambooze[a][52][53]19591962
 ZambiaElwyn Chomba[54][55]1973
 ZimbabweMadeline Nyamwanza-Makonese[56]19701970

Americas

CountryPhysicianYear graduated

medical school

Year began

practice

 Antigua and BarbudaRuby Lake-Richards[57]19541954
 ArgentinaCecilia Grierson[58]18891889
 BahamasMerceline Dahl-Regis[59][b]c. 1960s
 BoliviaAmelia Chopitea Villa[60]19261929
 BrazilMarie Durocher[61]18341834
 Canada[62]Emily Stowe[63]1867

1875

1867

1875

Jennie Kidd Trout[64]18751875
 ChileEloísa Díaz[65]18861887
 ColombiaAna Galvis Hotz[66]18771877
 Costa RicaAnita Figueredo[67] (lived in the U.S.)1936
 CubaLaura Martínez de Carvajal[68]18891889
 Dominican RepublicSarah Loguen Fraser[c][70]1884
 EcuadorMatilde Hidalgo[71]19211921
 El SalvadorEstela Gavidia[72]19451945
 GuatemalaMaria Isabel Escobar[73]19421946
 GuyanaAsin Ho A Shoo (Hoashoo)[74]19121912
 HaitiYvonne Sylvain[75]19401940
 HondurasMartha Raudales de Midence[76]19471947
 JamaicaCicely Williams[77]19231923
 MexicoMatilde Montoya[78]18871887
 NicaraguaConcepción Palacios Herrera[79]19271928
 PanamáLidia Gertrudis Sogandares[80]19341936
 ParaguayGabriela Valenzuela and Froilana Mereles[81]1924
 PeruLaura Esther Rodriguez Dulanto[82]18991900
 Saint Kitts and NevisJean Lenore Harney[83]
 Saint LuciaBetty Bennet Wells[84]1939
 SurinameSophie Redmond[85]19351935
 Trinidad and TobagoStella Abidh[86]1930
 United StatesElizabeth Blackwell[87] (born in England)18491851
 UruguayPaulina Luisi[88]19081909
 VenezuelaLya Imber[89]19361936

Asia

CountryPhysicianYear graduated

medical school

Year began

practice

 AfghanistanMaghul M. Ali[90]19571957
 AzerbaijanSona Valikhan[91]19081908
 BahrainSadeeqa Ali Al-Awadi[92]1969
 BangladeshZohra Begum Kazi[93]1935
 BruneiDatin Paduka Dr Hjh Intan[94]
 CambodiaKek Galabru[95][96]19681968
 ChinaKin Yamei[d]18851885
 IndiaAnandi Gopal Joshi / Kadambini Ganguly[97][98]1886
 IndonesiaMarie Thomas[99]19121922
 IranSakineh Peri[100][101]1934
 IraqAnna Sethian[102]1922[103]
 JapanOgino Ginko[104]18821885
 JordanNirmen Totanji[105]19531953
 KoreaEsther Park (Kim Jeom-dong)[106]1900
 KyrgyzstanKakish Ryskulovna Ryskulova[107]19441944
 KuwaitEleanor Jane Taylor Calverley[108] (born in the U.S.)19081911
 LebanonAnisa Saiba[109][110]c. 1890sc. 1890s
 MalaysiaSalma Ismail[111]19471947
 MongoliaV. Ichinkhorloo[112][113][114]1947
 MyanmarDaw Saw Sa[115]1912
   NepalJamila Sen[116][117]18971899
 OmanZakiyyah Bint Salem Bin Seif Al Me'man[118]1944
 PakistanKhabzam Iqbal[119]c. 1983
 PhilippinesHonoria Acosta-Sison[120]19091909
 Saudi ArabiaNawal Jamal Al-Lail[121]
 SingaporeLee Choo Neo[122]19191919
 Sri LankaMay Ratnayake[123]19161916
 SyriaSabat Islambouli[124]18901890
 TaiwanTsai Ah-hsin[125]19211925
 TajikistanSofya Khafizovna Khakimova[126]19431943
 ThailandPierra Vejjabul[127]19361936
 United Arab EmiratesZulekha Daoud[128]1963
 UzbekistanZulfiya Ibragimovna Umidova[129]19221922
 VietnamHenriette Bùi Quang Chiêu[130]1934
 YemenClaudie Fayein[131][132] (born in France)1955
  • Nepal: Bethel Fleming[133][134] (born in the U.S.) is considered the first Western female physician to practice in the country.

Europe

CountryPhysicianYear graduated
medical school
Year began
practice
 AlbaniaXhanfize (Frashëri) Basha[135]1937
 ArmeniaVergine G. Mikaelyan[136]1927
 AustriaGabriele Possanner[137]18971897
 BelarusSalome Regina Rusetskaya[e][138]
 BelgiumIsala Van Diest[139]18791879
 Bosnia and HerzegovinaTeodora Krajewska[140]c. 1897[141]
 BulgariaAnastasia Golovina[142]18781878
 CroatiaKarola Maier Milobar[143]19001906
 CyprusMaria Michaelides[144]19271927
 Czech RepublicAnna Honzáková[145]19021902
 DenmarkNielsine Nielsen[146]18861889
 EstoniaSelma Feldbach[147]1904
 FinlandRosina Heikel[75]18781878
 FranceMadeleine Brès[148]18751875
 Georgia (country)Pelagia Natsvlishvili[149]18781878
 GermanyDorothea Erxleben[150] [151]17541754
 GreeceMaria Kalapothakes[152]18941894
 HungaryVilma Hugonnai[153]18791897
 IcelandKristín Ólafsdóttir[154]1917[155]
 IrelandEleanora Fleury[156]18901890
 ItalyDorotea Bucca[f]pre-1390
 KazakhstanGulsum Asfendiyarova and Zeinep Sadykovna.[g][157]1908
 LatviaMarija Vecrumba[158]19111911
 LithuaniaBarbora Burbaitė-Eidukevičienė[159]18921900
 LuxembourgLouise Welter[h][160][161]19241924
 MaltaBlanche Huber[162]19251925
 MoldovaMaria Baltaga-Savitski[163]1879
 MontenegroDivna Veković[164]1940s
 NetherlandsAletta Jacobs[165]18791879
 North MacedoniaSuncica Apostolova[166]1953
 NorwayMarie Spångberg Holth[167]18931893
 PolandAnna Tomaszewicz-Dobrska[168]18771877
 PortugalElisa Augusta da Conceição Andrade[169]18891889
 RomaniaMaria Cuțarida-Crătunescu[170]18841891
 RussiaNadezhda Suslova[171]18671868
 SerbiaDraga Ljočić[172]18791881
 SlovakiaMária Bellová[173]1910
 SloveniaEleonora Jenko Groyer[174]1907
 SpainDolors Aleu i Riera[175]18791882
 SwedenLovisa Åhrberg[i]Never educated;
certified 1850s
1840
  SwitzerlandMarie Heim-Vögtlin[26]18741874
 TurkeySafiye Ali[1]1922
 UkraineSofia Okunevska[176]18941897
 United KingdomElizabeth Garrett Anderson[177]18621865

Oceania

CountryPhysicianYear graduated
medical school
Year began
practice
 AustraliaConstance Stone[178]1890
 FijiKanta Madovji[179]1968
 KiribatiTerenganuea Taaram[180] (then known as the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony)before 1974
 MicronesiaUlai Otobed[181]1965
 New ZealandEmily Siedeberg[182]18961905
 Papua New GuineaJoan Refshauge[183][184]1947
 SamoaViopapa Annandale-Atherton[185][186]1964
 Solomon IslandsJunilyn Pikacha[187]19781981
 Tonga'Akanesi Makakaufaki[188]1976
 TuvaluNese Ituaso-Conway[189]1999
Miliama Simeona[189]1999

See also

Notes

References