Anderson, Elizabeth Garrett
Anderson, Elizabeth Garrett (1836–1917). First Englishwoman to qualify in medicine. Elizabeth Garrett was born in Aldeburgh (Suffolk), where she is buried. Inspired by the beginning of the organized women's movement, and aware that the liberal professions were closed to them, her tenacious efforts led to her becoming a licentiate of the Society of Apothecaries (1865) and the first female MD in France (1870). Concentrating on treating women and children, she founded a dispensary and then the first hospital wholly staffed by women, eventually becoming dean of the London School of Medicine for Women. Marriage to Skelton Anderson proved a help rather than a hindrance in her career. Always concerned with education and social improvement, Anderson's greatest service to the women's cause was her normality. A sense of duty, courage, and unaffected manner combined to disarm a hostile profession, and served as a role model for others.
A. S. Hargreaves
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