Women & Democracy
The First Nigerian Female Doctor
Agnes Yewande Savage, the first female doctor in Nigeria, was born on the 21st of February, 1906 in Edinburgh, Scotland, to a Nigerian father, Richard Akinwande Savage and a Scottish mother, Maggie S. Bowie.
Agnes later studied medicine at Edinburgh University where she graduated in flying colours. She was awarded the Dorothy Gilfillon Memorial Prize for the best woman graduate in 1929. She became the first Nigerian female doctor.
She returned to the Colonial Office medical service and with the help of Andrew Fraser, her wage and job benefits were pushed to an equilibrium with other white staffs.
Agnes later retired in 1947 and lived the rest of her life in Hertfordshire, England, looking after her brother’s son and daughter. Agnes died in 1964. Her entry into that field paved a path for the many we now have in the serving in varied capacities as medical doctors.
