Background
Hilda was born on 23 January 1890, into an accomplished family at Visakhapatnam, in southern India. Her father was a highly regarded Christian educator and author
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Hilda Lazarus
Edit Profilegynecologist Christian missionary
Education
At the Madras University Lazarus completed a Bachelor of Arts before obtaining her medical degree from the Madras Medical College and winning a gold medal for outstanding work in Midwifery.
Career
She was Principal of Andhra Medical College and Superintendent of King George Hospital at Visakhapatnam. She was also the first Indian director of Christian Medical College and Hospital at Vellore. She was one of nine surviving children born to Eliza and Daniel Lazarus.
She joined Christian Blind Mission high school for her primary education.
She later went to England to qualify for a medical degree and spent many years for several courses in medicine. In the United Kingdom, she passed medical examinations in London and Dublin.
She obtained membership in the Royal College of Surgeons and a specialization in obstetrics and gynecology. She was appointed to the Women"s Medical Service (WMS) in India, the first Indian woman to obtain such an appointment.
She was in government medical service from 1917 to 1947.
Lazarus entered her career with the WMS by serving briefly at Lady Hardinge Medical College and Hospital, New Delhi. Established under government auspices in 1916 as the only fully professional medical college in India concerned exclusively with the training of women, Lady Hardinge was open to qualified students from all religious backgrounds. Lady Hardinge Medical College was thus unique within India, and it was to this institution that Lazarus returned in triumph in 1940 as its first Indian principal.
In addition to broadening her professional horizons and areas of expertise, these years also led her to acquire facility in several new Indian languages in addition to the Telugu and Sanskrit that she had learned in childhood, along with English.
She wrote a book based on her experiences in England and served as the Director of Vellore Medical College between 1948 and 1954 and Chief Medical Officer at the Vellore hospital. She served for some time in the Government General Hospital, Madras.
In Visakhapatnam, she held the posts of Principal of Andhra Medical College and Superintendent of King George"s Hospital.
