Ana_Galvis_Hotz
Ana Galvis Hotz
Colombian gynaecologist
Ana Galvis Hotz (22 June 1855 — 2 November 1934) was the first Colombian woman to have obtained a medical degree as a Doctor of Medicine.
Ana was born on 22 June 1855 in Bogotá to Dr. Nicanor Galvis from Colombia,[1] and his wife Sophie Hotz from Switzerland. In April 1872 she enrolled at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Bern, becoming the first regular full-time student of the University,[2][3] where she obtained her degree as a Doctor of Medicine on 26 June 1877 with her dissertation titled Über Amnionepithel (On the Amniotic Epithelial);[2][1][4] she thus became not only the first Colombian female medical doctor, but also the first from Latin America or Spain, at a time when women could not even attend university in Colombia. On her return to Colombia she opened her own medical practice advertising her services as a "specialist on the diseases of the uterus and its surroundings"; therefore she is now also recognized as the first Colombian gynaecologist.[4]