Laura Martínez de Carvajal

Laura Martínez de Carvajal (1869–1941) was the first female doctor in Cuba.[1] She was the oldest daughter of a rich Spanish family, and learned to read and write at age four and finished high school at age thirteen.[2] Because she was a woman, when she studied medicine she was not able to dissect corpses at the same time as her male classmates, but had to do so by herself on Saturday and Sunday.[3] She graduated in medicine at age 19 in 1889, at the University of Havana.[3] She also married in July 1889.[2] She worked as an ophthalmologist; her husband, Dr. Enrique López Veitía, also worked as such and she became his chief assistant and cared for his patients when he could not.[2][3] As well, she collaborated with him on many papers and three volumes of "Clinical Ophthalmology."[2] She had seven children.[3] Her husband died of tuberculosis in 1910 and she died of tuberculosis in 1941, at age 72.[3]

Further reading

Laura Martinez de Carvajal y del Camino: primera graduada de medicina en Cuba, by María Julia de Lara Mena, published by Consejo Cientifica, Ministerio de Salud Pública, in 1964

References

  1. ↑ Reyvi Enrique Bilbao Btancourt. "27 de Agosto de 1869- Nace Laura Martínez de Carvajal, primera mujer médico cubana".
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Laura Martínez fue la primera mujer médica en Cuba". CiberCuba.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Laura Martínez de Carvajal". La Jiribilla.
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