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List of first female physicians by country facts for kids

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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

Country Physician Year graduated

medical school

Year began

practice

 Algeria Aldjia Noureddine-Benallègue 1946 1946
 Angola Melba Dias Costa 1950
 Benin Solange Faladé 1955
 Botswana Nolwandle Nozipo Mashalaba 1965
 Burkina Faso Bibiane Kone
 Burundi Marcelline Ntakibirora 1982 1983
 Cameroon Gladys Ejomi 1962
 Cape Verde Maria Francisca de Oliveira Sousa
 Chad Grace Kodindo 1977
 Comoros Zaitouni Abdou
 Democratic Republic of Congo Louise Celia Fleming 1895 1895
 Egypt Hilana Sedarous 1930 1930
 Equatorial Guinea Margarita Roka Elobo
 Eswatini Fanny Friedman
 Ethiopia Widad Kidanemariam c. 1960s
 Gambia Kinneh Sogur 2007
 Ghana Susan Ofori-Atta 1949 1949
 Ivory Coast Christiane Welffens-Ekra c. 1975
 Kenya Mary de Sousa 1919
 Lesotho Bertha Hardegger (born in Switzerland) 1937
 Liberia Florence Gbeye D. McClain 1962
 Libya Younes Qwaider 1969
 Madagascar Marthe Ramiaramanana-Ralivao 1950
 Malawi Vida Mungwira (the country was then known as Nyasaland) 1956
 Mali Diaka Diawara Sacko
 Mauritania Nusaiba Abdel-Qader and Meimouna mint Mohamed Lemine 2015 2015
 Mauritius Sajeda Vayid 1965
 Morocco Françoise Legey (born in France) 1900 1909
 Namibia Libertina Amathila 1969 1969
 Nigeria Elizabeth Abimbola Awoliyi 1938 1938
 Republic of Congo Yvonne Obenga c. 1970s
 São Tomé and Príncipe Julieta da Graça do Espírito Santo 1955
 Senegal Marie-Thérèse Basse 1957 1958
 Seychelles Hilda Stevenson-Delhomme 1939
 Sierra Leone Irene Ighodaro 1945
 Somalia Hawa Abdi 1971 1971
 South Africa Jane Elizabeth Waterston 1880
 Sudan Khalida Zahir 1952 1952
Zaroui Sarkissian 1952
 Tanzania Esther Mwaikambo 1969 1969
 Tunisia Tewhida Ben Sheikh 1936 1936
 Uganda Josephine Nambooze 1959 1962
 Zambia Elwyn Chomba 1973
 Zimbabwe Madeline Nyamwanza-Makonese 1970 1970

Americas

Country Physician Year graduated

medical school

Year began

practice

 Antigua and Barbuda Ruby Lake-Richards 1954 1954
 Argentina Cecilia Grierson 1889 1889
 Bahamas Merceline Dahl-Regis c. 1960s
 Bolivia Amelia Chopitea Villa 1926 1929
 Brazil Marie Durocher 1834 1834
 Canada Emily Stowe 1867

1875

1867

1875

Jennie Kidd Trout 1875 1875
 Chile Eloísa Díaz 1886 1887
 Colombia Ana Galvis Hotz 1877 1877
 Costa Rica Anita Figueredo (lived in the U.S.) 1936
 Cuba Laura Martínez de Carvajal 1889 1889
 Dominican Republic Sarah Loguen Fraser 1884
 Ecuador Matilde Hidalgo 1921 1921
 El Salvador Estela Gavidia 1945 1945
 Guatemala Maria Isabel Escobar 1942 1946
 Guyana Asin Ho A Shoo (Hoashoo) 1912 1912
 Haiti Yvonne Sylvain 1940 1940
 Honduras Martha Raudales de Midence 1947 1947
 Jamaica Cicely Williams 1923 1923
 Mexico Matilde Montoya 1887 1887
 Nicaragua Concepción Palacios Herrera 1927 1928
 Panamá Lidia Gertrudis Sogandares 1934 1936
 Paraguay Gabriela Valenzuela and Froilana Mereles 1924
 Peru Laura Esther Rodriguez Dulanto 1899 1900
 Saint Kitts and Nevis Jean Lenore Harney
 Saint Lucia Betty Bennet Wells 1939
 Suriname Sophie Redmond 1935 1935
 Trinidad and Tobago Stella Abidh 1930
 United States Elizabeth Blackwell (born in England) 1849 1851
 Uruguay Paulina Luisi 1908 1909
 Venezuela Lya Imber 1936 1936

Asia

Country Physician Year graduated

medical school

Year began

practice

 Afghanistan Maghul M. Ali 1957 1957
 Azerbaijan Sona Valikhan 1908 1908
 Bahrain Sadeeqa Ali Al-Awadi 1969
 Bangladesh Zohra Begum Kazi 1935
 Brunei Datin Paduka Dr Hjh Intan
 Cambodia Kek Galabru 1968 1968
 China Kin Yamei 1885 1885
 India Anandi Gopal Joshi / Kadambini Ganguly 1886
 Indonesia Marie Thomas 1912 1922
 Iran Sakineh Peri 1934
 Iraq Anna Sethian 1922
 Japan Ogino Ginko 1882 1885
 Jordan Nirmen Totanji 1953 1953
 Korea Esther Park (Kim Jeom-dong) 1900
 Kyrgyzstan Kakish Ryskulovna Ryskulova 1944 1944
 Kuwait Eleanor Jane Taylor Calverley (born in the U.S.) 1908 1911
 Lebanon Anisa Saiba c. 1890s c. 1890s
 Malaysia Salma Ismail 1947 1947
 Mongolia V. Ichinkhorloo 1947
 Myanmar Daw Saw Sa 1912
 Nepal Jamila Sen 1897 1899
 Oman Zakiyyah Bint Salem Bin Seif Al Me'man 1944
 Pakistan Khabzam Iqbal c. 1983
 Philippines Honoria Acosta-Sison 1909 1909
 Saudi Arabia Nawal Jamal Al-Lail
 Singapore Lee Choo Neo 1919 1919
 Sri Lanka May Ratnayake 1916 1916
 Syria Sabat Islambouli 1890 1890
 Taiwan Tsai Ah-hsin 1921 1925
 Tajikistan Sofya Khafizovna Khakimova 1943 1943
 Thailand Pierra Vejjabul 1936 1936
 United Arab Emirates Zulekha Daoud 1963
 Uzbekistan Zulfiya Ibragimovna Umidova 1922 1922
 Vietnam Henriette Bùi Quang Chiêu 1934
 Yemen Claudie Fayein (born in France) 1955
  • Nepal: Bethel Fleming (born in the U.S.) is considered the first Western female physician to practice in the country.

Europe

Country Physician Year graduated
medical school
Year began
practice
 Albania Xhanfize (Frashëri) Basha 1937
 Armenia Vergine G. Mikaelyan 1927
 Austria Gabriele Possanner 1897 1897
 Belarus Salome Regina Rusetskaya
 Belgium Isala Van Diest 1879 1879
 Bosnia and Herzegovina Teodora Krajewska c. 1897
 Bulgaria Anastasia Golovina 1878 1878
 Croatia Karola Maier Milobar 1900 1906
 Cyprus Maria Michaelides 1927 1927
 Czech Republic Anna Honzáková 1902 1902
 Denmark Nielsine Nielsen 1886 1889
 Estonia Selma Feldbach 1904
 Finland Rosina Heikel 1878 1878
 France Madeleine Brès 1875 1875
 Georgia (country) Pelagia Natsvlishvili 1878 1878
 Germany Dorothea Erxleben 1754 1754
 Greece Maria Kalapothakes 1894 1894
 Hungary Vilma Hugonnai 1879 1897
 Iceland Kristín Ólafsdóttir 1917
 Ireland Eleanora Fleury 1890 1890
 Italy Dorotea Bucca pre-1390
 Kazakhstan Gulsum Asfendiyarova and Zeinep Sadykovna. 1908
 Latvia Marija Vecrumba 1911 1911
 Lithuania Barbora Burbaitė-Eidukevičienė 1892 1900
 Luxembourg Louise Welter 1924 1924
 Malta Blanche Huber 1925 1925
 Moldova Maria Baltaga-Savitski 1879
 Montenegro Divna Veković 1940s
 Netherlands Aletta Jacobs 1879 1879
 North Macedonia Suncica Apostolova 1953
 Norway Marie Spångberg Holth 1893 1893
 Poland Anna Tomaszewicz-Dobrska 1877 1877
 Portugal Elisa Augusta da Conceição Andrade 1889 1889
 Romania Maria Cuțarida-Crătunescu 1884 1891
 Russia Nadezhda Suslova 1867 1868
 Serbia Draga Ljočić 1879 1881
 Slovakia Mária Bellová 1910
 Slovenia Eleonora Jenko Groyer 1907
 Spain Dolors Aleu i Riera 1879 1882
 Sweden Lovisa Åhrberg Never educated;
certified 1850s
1840
 Switzerland Marie Heim-Vögtlin 1874 1874
 Turkey Safiye Ali 1922
 Ukraine Sofia Okunevska 1894 1897
 United Kingdom Elizabeth Garrett Anderson 1862 1865

Oceania

Country Physician Year graduated
medical school
Year began
practice
 Australia Constance Stone 1890
 Fiji Kanta Madovji 1968
 Kiribati Terenganuea Taaram (then known as the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony) before 1974
 Micronesia Ulai Otobed 1965
 New Zealand Emily Siedeberg 1896 1905
 Papua New Guinea Joan Refshauge 1947
 Samoa Viopapa Annandale-Atherton 1964
 Solomon Islands Junilyn Pikacha 1978 1981
 Tonga 'Akanesi Makakaufaki 1976
 Tuvalu Nese Ituaso-Conway 1999
Miliama Simeona 1999

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Anexo:Primeras médicas por país para niños

  • List of first female pharmacists by country
  • List of first women dentists by country
  • Women in dentistry
  • Women in medicine
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List of first female physicians by country Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.