Blackwell, Elizabeth (1821-1910)

English-born US physician, the first woman to qualify in medicine in the USA in 1849, and the first woman to be recognized as a qualified physician in the UK in 1869.

Her example inspired many other aspiring female doctors.

Elizabeth Blackwell was taken to the USA as a child. She studied at Geneva Medical School in New York State and then opened a private clinic in New York City. On her return to the UK in 1869, she became the first woman to appear in the Medical Register. She was professor of gynaecology at the London School of Medicine for Women 1875-1907.