Lillias Anna Hamilton (1858-1925) was a British pioneer doctor and author. She trained first as a nurse, in Liverpool, before going on to study medicine in Scotland, qualifying as a Doctor of Medicine in 1890. Despite much prejudice against female physicians practicing in Europe, there was a substantial need for female doctors in India, as religious custom and practice deprived many women of proper medical care. Hamilton had met Colonel Joubert of the Indian Medical Service, and he introduced her to the opportunity of working abroad. She made a significant impact on the health of the Afghan population. Not only did she establish a hospital in Kabul, but she was also responsible for introducing vaccination into the country. She was a court physician to Amir Abdur Rahman Khan in Afghanistan in the 1890s, and wrote a fictionalized account of her experiences in her book A Vizier's Daughter: A Tale of the Hazara War, published in 1900. |