Elizabeth Garrett Anderson
She smashed the glass ceiling of British medicine, qualifying as its first female doctor and building the institutions to train others.
1836–1917 (age 81)·English physician, doctor and feminist·Birthday: June 9
Biography
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson didn't ask for permission; she created her own path through sheer force of intellect and determination. Denied entry to every medical school in Britain simply because she was a woman, she apprenticed herself to surgeons, studied privately, and exploited a loophole in the Society of Apothecaries' charter to sit for their exam. In 1865, she became the first woman in Britain to qualify as a physician, though the medical establishment promptly changed the rules to prevent others from following. Unfazed, she founded her own dispensary for women, which grew into a full hospital staffed by women. Her greatest institutional triumph was co-founding the London School of Medicine for Women, the first place in Britain where women could formally train as doctors, and later becoming its dean. Anderson's fight was never just personal; it was systemic, paving a professional road for generations of women in healthcare and public life, culminating in her symbolic role as Britain's first female mayor.
#1 When Elizabeth Was Born
The biggest hits of 1836
Elizabeth's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1836Born
1841Started school
1849Became a teenager
1852Could drive
1854Could vote
1857Turned 21
1866Turned 30
President: Andrew Johnson
1876Turned 40
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1886Turned 50
Statue of Liberty dedicated in New York Harbor
President: Grover Cleveland
1896Turned 60
First modern Olympic Games held in Athens
President: Grover Cleveland
1906Turned 70
San Francisco earthquake devastates the city
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1916Turned 80
The Battle of the Somme claims over a million casualties
President: Woodrow Wilson
1917Died at 81
Russian Revolution overthrows the tsar; US enters WWI
President: Woodrow Wilson
Key Achievements
- Became the first woman in Britain to qualify as a physician and surgeon in 1865.
- Co-founded and served as Dean of the London School of Medicine for Women, the first British medical school for women.
- Was elected as the first female mayor in Britain, serving in Aldeburgh in 1908.
- Founded the New Hospital for Women in London, staffed entirely by women.
Did You Know?
She was the sister of Millicent Garrett Fawcett, a leader of the British suffragist movement.
Anderson learned French specifically to attend medical lectures at the University of Sorbonne in Paris, where she finally earned her MD.
She was the first woman in Britain to be elected to a school board, in London in 1870.
Her daughter, Louisa Garrett Anderson, also became a pioneering surgeon and suffragette.
“I intend to enter the medical profession, and I see no reason why I should not.”
