Matilde Montoya
Encyclopedia
Matilde Petra Montoya Lafragua (b. Mexico City
, March 14, 1859 – d. Mexico City, January 26, 1939) was assumedly the first female physician in Mexico
, who held an academic degree, although there are hints, that there was a further female student of medicine around 1877, named Zenaida Ucounkoff.
and obstetrics
training to loose no time. She worked in Mexico City, later in Cuernavaca, Puebla and Veracruz. Everywhere she was slandered and defamed by local doctors.
Eventually she requested and received help from President Diaz
to gain entry into medical school. Supported by President Diaz she was able to achieve a bachillerato in San Idelfonso, and to matriculate in 1880. On a further request of her, President Diaz supported her once more, to participate in the exam. When she received her M.D. degree of the Escuela de Medicina de México in 1887, today Faculty of Medicine
of the National Autonomous University of Mexico
, President Diaz and his wife appeared in person to congratulate. The Secretario de Gobernación declared her doctor of surgery and obstetrics
.
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, March 14, 1859 – d. Mexico City, January 26, 1939) was assumedly the first female physician in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, who held an academic degree, although there are hints, that there was a further female student of medicine around 1877, named Zenaida Ucounkoff.
Biography
Montaya completed school education at the age of 12, and was not old enough for higher education, why her mother Soledad inspired her to start a midwiferyMidwifery
Midwifery is a health care profession in which providers offer care to childbearing women during pregnancy, labour and birth, and during the postpartum period. They also help care for the newborn and assist the mother with breastfeeding....
and obstetrics
Obstetrics
Obstetrics is the medical specialty dealing with the care of all women's reproductive tracts and their children during pregnancy , childbirth and the postnatal period...
training to loose no time. She worked in Mexico City, later in Cuernavaca, Puebla and Veracruz. Everywhere she was slandered and defamed by local doctors.
Eventually she requested and received help from President Diaz
Porfirio Díaz
José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori was a Mexican-American War volunteer and French intervention hero, an accomplished general and the President of Mexico continuously from 1876 to 1911, with the exception of a brief term in 1876 when he left Juan N...
to gain entry into medical school. Supported by President Diaz she was able to achieve a bachillerato in San Idelfonso, and to matriculate in 1880. On a further request of her, President Diaz supported her once more, to participate in the exam. When she received her M.D. degree of the Escuela de Medicina de México in 1887, today Faculty of Medicine
Faculty of Medicine (UNAM)
The UNAM Faculty of Medicine is the responsible of imparting studies of medicine in the UNAM, it holds Undergraduate and Graduate studies, the later ones being some of them joint teaching with some other faculties, most commonly the Faculty of Science...
of the National Autonomous University of Mexico
National Autonomous University of Mexico
The Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México is a university in Mexico. UNAM was founded on 22 September 1910 by Justo Sierra as a liberal alternative to the Roman Catholic-sponsored Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico The Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) (National Autonomous...
, President Diaz and his wife appeared in person to congratulate. The Secretario de Gobernación declared her doctor of surgery and obstetrics
Obstetrics
Obstetrics is the medical specialty dealing with the care of all women's reproductive tracts and their children during pregnancy , childbirth and the postnatal period...
.