Women Physicians

Vote for Your Favourite Women Physicians

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 1 
Rosalind Franklin
8
Birthdate: July 25, 1920
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Notting Hill, London, England
Died: April 16, 1958
Chemist and X-ray crystallographer Rosalind Franklin is remembered for her pathbreaking X-ray diffraction studies of DNA, which helped in the Nobel Prize-winning discovery of the double helix structure of DNA by Francis Crick, James Watson, and Maurice Wilkins later. She also worked on the molecular structures of viruses. 
 2 
Elizabeth Blackwell
(First Woman Medical Graduate)
Elizabeth Blackwell
4
Birthdate: February 3, 1821
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Bristol
Died: May 31, 1910
 3 
Virginia Apgar
(Physician and Anesthesiologist)
Virginia Apgar
7
Birthdate: June 7, 1909
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Westfield, New Jersey, United States
Died: August 7, 1974
 4 
Mariya Putina
(Russian Pediatric Endocrinologist and Eldest Daughter of Russian President Vladimir Putin)
Mariya Putina
4
Birthdate: April 28, 1985
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Saint Petersburg, Russia
Maria Vorontsova, the eldest daughter of Russian president Vladimir Putin, is a pediatric endocrinologist and Putin's advisor in genetic engineering. She has also co-written a book on idiopathic stunting in kids. She is currently a PhD candidate at Moscow’s Endocrinology Research Centre and is married to Dutch entrepreneur Jorrit Faassen.
 5 
Mae Jemison
(First African American Woman To Travel To Space)
Mae Jemison
5
Birthdate: October 17, 1956
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Decatur, Alabama, United States

Former NASA astronaut Mae Jemison became the first Black woman to fly into space, as a mission specialist on the Space Shuttle Endeavour. A qualified physician, she has served as a Peace Corps doctor, too. She has written several books and established a non-profit and a tech research organization.

 6 
Priscilla Chan
(Wife of Mark Zuckerberg)
Priscilla Chan
4
Birthdate: February 24, 1985
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Braintree, Massachusetts, United States
Pediatrician and philanthropist Priscilla Chan, wife of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, was born to Chinese-Vietnamese refugees. She met Zuckerberg while studying at Harvard. They launched the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative in 2015, pledging to transfer 99 percent of their shares in Facebook. Their philanthropy focuses on healthcare, science, and education.
 7 
Maria Montessori
(Italian Educator and Founder of the 'Montessori Method of Education')
Maria Montessori
5
Birthdate: August 1, 1870
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Chiaravalle, Italy
Died: April 30, 1952

Maria Montessori was an Italian educator and physician best known for developing the Montessori method of education, a student-friendly method, which is being used in several public and private schools around the world. In 2020, she was nominated by Time magazine as one of their Top 100 Women of the year.

 8 
Jill Stein
(Member of the Lexington Town Meeting from the 2nd Precinct (2005 - 2010))
Jill Stein
6
Birthdate: May 14, 1950
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Jill Stein is a physician who later became the presidential nominee for the Green Party in the 2012 and 2016 elections. She has also been the Green-Rainbow Party's candidate for the governorship of Massachusetts in 2002 and 2010. She believed in the Green New Deal, including climate change reforms.
 9 
Connie Booth
(Actress, Psychotherapist)
Connie Booth
6
Birthdate: January 31, 1944
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Indianapolis
Connie Booth is best known as Polly Sherman from the series Fawlty Towers. She was also seen in the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail and the series Monty Python's Flying Circus. She also appeared on stage. After retiring from acting, she began working as a psychotherapist in London.
 10 
Jennifer Ashton
(Physician)
Jennifer Ashton
4
Birthdate: April 23, 1969
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: George Air Force Base
 11 
Stella Immanuel
(Cameroonian-American Pastor and Physician Who Achieved Notoriety for Her Fringe Claims About Medical Conditions)
Stella Immanuel
8
Birthdate: 1965 AD
Birthplace: Cameroon

Stella Immanuel is a Cameroonian-American pastor and physician. She is best known for her fringe claims about medical conditions. She achieved notoriety in 2020, when she claimed that hydroxychloroquine can cure COVID-19. Stella Immanuel has also endorsed numerous conspiracy theories concerning the Illuminati and aliens. She is also credited with founding a religious organization named Fire Power Ministries.

 12 
Cicely Saunders
3
Birthdate: June 22, 1918
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Barnet, Hertfordshire, England
Died: July 14, 2005
A pioneer of the hospice movement, English nurse and social worker Cicely Saunders not only developed the palliative care approach but also established the St. Christopher’s Hospice in London. A supporter of medical ethics, she was against voluntary euthanasia. She won numerous awards, such as the Templeton Prize.
 13 
Mary Edwards Walker
(Surgeon, Feminist, Activist)
Mary Edwards Walker
4
Birthdate: November 26, 1832
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Oswego
Died: February 21, 1919

Mary Edwards Walker, or Dr. Mary Walker, was the only female surgeon who served injured soldiers during the American Civil War. A dress reform supporter, she believed women should value comfort more than tradition when it came to clothes. She was also the first and only Medal of Honor winner.

 14 
Nina Kraviz
(DJ)
Nina Kraviz
5
Birthdate: October 12, 1982
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Irkutsk, Russia

Nina Kraviz is a Russian DJ, singer, and music producer. She studied dentistry and even practiced for some time while performing gigs as a side hustle. She then proceeded to study at the Red Bull Music Academy. She released her self-titled debut album in 2012 and then went on to launch her own record label. 

 15 
Annie Sprinkle
(American Sexologist and Co-creator of the 'Ecosexual' Movement)
Annie Sprinkle
5
Birthdate: July 23, 1954
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Annie Sprinkle is an American sexologist who supports sex work and healthcare. Sprinkle, who identifies herself as ecosexual, works as a feminist stripper, sex educator, pornographic actress, and sex-positive feminist. She is credited with popularizing lesbian pornography and the post-porn movement.

 16 
Karen Horney
(German Psychoanalyst Best Known for Founding Feminist Psychology in Response to Freud’s Theory of Penis Envy)
Karen Horney
4
Birthdate: September 16, 1885
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Blankenese, Hamburg, Germany
Died: December 4, 1952

Remembered for her pioneering work on feminist psychology, Karen Horney studied medicine at a time when women weren’t allowed in universities. Going against Sigmund Freud’s concept of penis envy, she suggested the idea of womb envy. She believed psychological differences weren’t rooted in gender but rather depended on the socio-cultural influences.

 17 
Virginia Johnson
(Sexologist)
Virginia Johnson
4
Birthdate: February 11, 1925
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Springfield, Missouri, United States
Died: July 24, 2013
 18 
Fe del Mundo
(Pediatrician)
Fe del Mundo
3
Birthdate: November 27, 1911
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Intramuros
Died: August 6, 2011

Fe del Mundo was a Filipina paediatrician who achieved international recognition in 1977 when she was honored with the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service. In 1980, she was named National Scientist of the Philippines, becoming the first woman to be named so. Del Mundo is credited with founding Philippines' first pediatric hospital.

 19 
Deborah Birx
(White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator from 2020 to 2021)
Deborah Birx
5
Birthdate: April 4, 1956
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Carlisle, Pennsylvania, United States

Doctor and diplomat Deborah Birx was the Trump administration’s coronavirus response co-ordinator. The renowned HIV/AIDS researcher, however, quit the virus team after reports suggested she had attended a Thanksgiving family gathering, breaching COVID-19 protocol. She later joined the air-cleaning company ActivePure, amid reports of it using banned technology.

 20 
Rita Levi-Montalcini
(Italian Neurologist Who Won the 1986 Nobel Prize in Medicine)
Rita Levi-Montalcini
3
Birthdate: April 22, 1909
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Turin, Italy
Died: December 30, 2012

Rita Levi-Montalcini was an Italian neurologist whose discovery of nerve growth factor earned her the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Throughout her life, Levi-Montalcini's work in neurobiology earned her several other honors and awards, including the Golden Plate Award from the American Academy of Achievement and the European Academy of Sciences' Leonardo da Vinci Award.

 21 
Sabina Spielrein
(Psychiatrist)
Sabina Spielrein
4
Birthdate: October 25, 1885
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Rostov-on-Don, Russian Empire
Died: August 11, 1942

Sabina Spielrein was a Russian physician who also worked as a psychoanalyst, psychiatrist, and teacher during an illustrious professional career that spanned 30 years. A pioneer of psychoanalysis, Spielrein was the first person to bring in and popularize the concept of the death instinct. Sabina Spielrein was also one of the earliest psychoanalysts to study schizophrenia in detail. 

 22 
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
(Swiss-American Psychiatrist, a Pioneer in Near-Death Studies and Author of the Book ‘On Death and Dying')
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
0
Birthdate: July 8, 1926
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Zurich, Switzerland
Died: August 24, 2004

Best known for her pathbreaking bestseller On Death and Dying, Swiss-American psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross also made pioneering research in areas such as near-death studies. Her five stages of grief, or the Kübler-Ross model, has been adopted by corporates to help employees deal with loss and change.

 23 
Tess Gerritsen
(Novelist)
Tess Gerritsen
3
Birthdate: June 12, 1953
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: San Diego, California, United States
 24 
Maria Belon
(Spanish Motivational Speaker Who Survived the Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami in 2004)
Maria Belon
4
Birthdate: May 12, 1966
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Madrid, Spain

Maria Belon is a Spanish motivational speaker and physician. She achieved popularity after surviving the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami in 2004. Belón was badly injured and nearly died. The story inspired the 2012 disaster drama film The Impossible, in which Maria Belon was played by Naomi Watts. Belon has also appeared in many TV shows.

 25 
Anandi Gopal Joshi
(First Indian Female Doctor)
Anandi Gopal Joshi
4
Birthdate: March 31, 1865
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Kalyan, Maharashtra, India
Died: February 26, 1887

Though she was married off at age 9 and had had a baby by 14, Anandi Gopal Joshi rose to become one of the first female doctors in India and the first Indian-origin woman to graduate with a medical degree in the US. Unfortunately, she died of tuberculosis shortly before her 22nd birthday.

 26 
Mehriban Aliyeva
(Vice President of Azerbaijan)
Mehriban Aliyeva
5
Birthdate: August 26, 1964
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Baku, Azerbaijan

Mehriban Aliyeva is an Azerbaijani physician and politician. She is the current Vice President of Azerbaijan. The wife of Ilham Aliyev, Aliyeva is also the current First Lady of Azerbaijan. Mehriban Aliyeva is also the current Deputy Leader of the New Azerbaijan Party.

 27 
Helen B. Taussig
(American Cardiologist Who Founded the Field of Pediatric Cardiology)
Helen B. Taussig
3
Birthdate: May 24, 1898
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
Died: May 20, 1986
Helen B. Taussig is remembered as the founder of pediatric cardiology. Born to a Harvard professor father and a mother who was a women’s education pioneer, she was denied a Harvard seat for being a woman and thus studied medicine at Johns Hopkins. She pioneered the cure of the blue baby syndrome.
 28 
Eva Andersson-Dubin
(Founder of 'Dubin Breast Center' at Mount Sinai Hospital's Tisch Cancer Institute in New York City)
Eva Andersson-Dubin
4
Birthdate: 1961 AD
Birthplace: Sweden

Eva Andersson-Dubin is a Swedish physician and former model. She is best known for founding the Dubin Breast Center at Mount Sinai Hospital's Tisch Cancer Institute in New York City. Prior to her medical career, Eva Andersson-Dubin worked as a model. In 1980, she won the Miss Sweden contest.

 29 
Michelle Bachelet
(33rd and 35th President of Chile)
Michelle Bachelet
10
Birthdate: September 29, 1951
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Santiago, Chile

Chilean politician Michelle Bachelet serves as 7th United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. She became the first female politician in Chilean history who was elected as the country’s President and the first elected female leader in South America. She served as the 33rd and 35th President of Chile and held several other prominent positions during her expansive political career.

 30 
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson
(Mayor of Aldeburgh)
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson
4
Birthdate: June 9, 1836
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Whitechapel
Died: December 17, 1917

The first female doctor and surgeon of Britain, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was initially denied admission to medical schools because of her gender and had thus started studying privately. Soon after joining the Marylebone Dispensary as an attendant, she contributed to the formation of the New Hospital for Women.

 31 
Julienne Marie
(Actress)
Julienne Marie
3
Birthdate: March 21, 1933
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Toledo, Ohio, United States
 32 
Colleen McCullough
(Novelist, Writer, Neurologist, Biographer, Science fiction writer)
Colleen McCullough
4
Birthdate: June 1, 1937
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Wellington
Died: January 29, 2015

Australian author Colleen McCullough soared to fame with her bestselling novel The Thorn Birds, which was also made into a hit miniseries. Fans also lover her Masters of Rome and Carmine Delmonico series of novels. A former neuropsychologist, she has previously taught at the Yale School of Medicine.

 33 
Roberta Bondar
(Astronaut & Neurologist)
Roberta Bondar
3
Birthdate: December 4, 1945
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Sault Ste. Marie, Canada

Canadian neurologist, educator, scientist, astronaut and photographer Roberta Bondar CC OOnt FRCPC FRSC is noted as the first female astronaut and the first neurologist of Canada to travel into space. She flew as part of the Space Shuttle Discovery mission STS-42 and performed over forty experiments in Spacelab. She later served as head of an international team of researchers at NASA.

 34 
Joycelyn Elders
(15th Surgeon General of the United States (1993 -1994))
Joycelyn Elders
8
Birthdate: August 13, 1933
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Schaal, Arkansas, United States

The second female U.S. surgeon general, Joycelyn Elders is a renowned pediatrician and one of the first Black women to reach the pinnacle of the medical field in the U.S. She has been dragged into multiple controversies, one of them being a result of her support for sex education and masturbation.

 35 
Eva Carneiro
(Sports medicine specialist who is best known for serving as the first-team doctor of Chelsea, which she joined in 2009)
Eva Carneiro
0
Birthdate: September 30, 1973
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Gibraltar
 36 
Özlem Türeci
(Physician, Scientist)
Özlem Türeci
0
Birthdate: March 6, 1967
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Lastrup, West Germany
 37 
Susan La Flesche Picotte
(American doctor)
Susan La Flesche Picotte
3
Birthdate: June 17, 1865
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Omaha Reservation, Nebraska, United States
Died: September 18, 1915
 38 
Gianna Beretta Molla
(Italian Roman Catholic Pediatrician)
Gianna Beretta Molla
4
Birthdate: October 4, 1922
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Magenta, Italy
Died: April 28, 1962

Gianna Beretta Molla was a Roman Catholic pediatrician, canonized as a saint for saving her unborn child’s life at the expense of her own. Although she knew that the removal of only the fibroma would endanger her life, she refused have an abortion, thus upholding the Roman Catholic doctrine that even an unborn child has a fundamental right to life.

 39 
Reita Faria
(Indian Physician and Former Model Who Was the Winner of the Miss World 1966 Pageant)
Reita Faria
4
Birthdate: August 23, 1945
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Reita Faria is an Indian physician and former beauty queen. She is best known for winning the Miss World pageant in 1966 and thereby becoming the first woman of Asian origin to win the contest. Reita Faria is also the first qualified physician to win the Miss World title. Reita Faria declined several acting offers to focus on her career as a physician.

 40 
Anna Lee Fisher
(American Chemist, Emergency Physician and a Former NASA Astronaut)
Anna Lee Fisher
3
Birthdate: August 24, 1949
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: New York, New York, United States
 41 
Anna Comnena
(Greek Princess & Scholar)
Anna Comnena
3
Birthdate: December 1, 1083
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Porphyra Chamber, Great Palace of Constantinople, Constantinople, Byzantine Empire
Died: 1153 AD
Daughter of Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus, Anna Komnene is best remembered for writing Alexiad, a genuine treatise of the life and times of her father. She had written the book while imprisoned at the Kecharitomene Monastery, after a failed attempt to depose her brother, John II Komnenos.
 42 
Sneha Anne Philip
(Indian-American physician who was last seen on September 10, 2001)
Sneha Anne Philip
4
Birthdate: October 7, 1969
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Kerala, India
Died: September 11, 2001
 43 
Patricia Bath
(American Ophthalmologist and Humanitarian)
Patricia Bath
5
Birthdate: November 4, 1942
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: New York City, New York, United States
Died: April 30, 2019

Ophthalmologist Patricia Bath is remembered for her pathbreaking invention of the Laserphaco Probe, which made laser cataract surgery possible. The first Black female surgeon at the UCLA Medical Center and the first female faculty staff of the UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute, she dedicated her life to curing blindness.

 44 
Leana Wen
(Former President of Planned Parenthood)
Leana Wen
0
Birthdate: January 27, 1983
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Shanghai, China
 45 
Antonia Novello
(The First Woman and First Hispanic to Serve as Surgeon General of the United States)
Antonia Novello
5
Birthdate: August 23, 1944
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Fajardo, Puerto Rico

Antonia Novello became the first female and the first person of Hispanic origin to become the U.S. surgeon general. Initially a pediatric nephrologist, she later switched to Public Health Service, after realizing she was too emotional to be a pediatrician. The Puerto Rican physician was also a UNICEF representative.

 46 
Aletta Jacobs
(Physician)
Aletta Jacobs
3
Birthdate: February 9, 1854
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Sappemeer, Netherlands
Died: August 10, 1929

Apart from being the first female university graduate in the Netherlands, the first Dutch female physician, and the first female to get a medical doctorate in her country, Aletta Jacobs was also a pioneering women’s suffrage activist. She traveled the world for her feminist mission with fellow suffragette Carrie Chapman.

 47 
Jenny Thompson
(American Former Competition Swimmer and Anesthesiologist)
Jenny Thompson
3
Birthdate: February 26, 1973
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Danvers, Massachusetts, United States

Known for winning more Olympic medals than any other female in the swimming category, Jenny Thompson had started swimming at age 7. She grew up to win swimming medals for Stanford University. She is also a qualified doctor and has practiced as an anaesthesiologist and surgeon.

 48 
Philippa Perry
(Psychotherapist, Novelist)
Philippa Perry
3
Birthdate: November 1, 1957
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Warrington
 49 
Theresa Tam
(3rd Chief Public Health Officer of Canada)
Theresa Tam
2
Birthdate: 1965 AD
Birthplace: Hong Kong
 50 
Laurel Clark
(Medical Doctor)
Laurel Clark
3
Birthdate: March 10, 1961
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Ames, Iowa, United States
Died: February 1, 2003