Hurdon, Elizabeth (1868–1941)

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Hurdon, Elizabeth (1868–1941)

English-born gynecologist and pathologist. Born Jan 28, 1868, in Bodmin, Exeter, England; died of liver cancer, Jan 29, 1941, in Exeter; dau. of John Hurdon (linen and woolen draper) and Ann (Coom) Hurdon.

Hired as assistant gynecologist in dispensary of Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore (1897), the 1st woman physician on staff; was assistant in gynecology, instructor, and associate in gynecology at Johns Hopkins Medical School (1898–1916), the 1st woman on the medical faculty; was 1 of roughly 12 women qualified for election to the new American College of Surgeons (1913); volunteered for England's Royal Army Medical Corps (1915) and assigned to active duty in Europe during WWI; assisted in development and was 1st director of Marie Curie Hospital, a women's cancer hospital in London; worked on cancer treatments; retired (1938). Received order of Commander of the British Empire (1938).

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