born - 21 January 1840, 3 Croft Place, Hastings
died - 7 January 1912, Windydene, Mark Cross, Rotherfield
Publications
The Life of Sophia Jex-Blake, by Margaret Todd, M.D., published 1918 (xviii + 574 pp., London: Macmillan & Co. Ltd.) accessible at: British Library View Online
Abstract:Sophia Jex-Blake (1840-1912) was born in Hastings and died in Rotherfield. She was a pioneer in woman's education and was the first woman to practise as a doctor in Scotland
Women Doctors of the World, by Esther Pohl Lovejoy, published 1957 (413 pp., Macmillan)
Women in Science: Antiquity through Nineteenth Century A Biographical Dictionary with Annotated Bibliography , by Marilyn Bailey Ogilvie, published 15 August 1990 (272 pp., M.I.T. Press, ISBN-10: 026265038X & ISBN-13: 9780262650380)
Sophia Jex-Blake: A Woman Pioneer in Nineteenth Century Medical Reform, by Shirley Roberts, published 21 October 1993 (The Wellcome Institute series in the history of medicine, x + 207 pp., London: Routledge, ISBN-10: 0415087538 & ISBN-13: 9780415087537) accessible at: British Library & East Sussex Libraries
Abstract:Sophia Jex-Blake (1840-1912) was born in Hastings and died in Rotherfield. She led the campaign that won for British women the right to enter the medical profession. Before taking up this cause she had studied women's education in England, Germany and the United states, and rejected the popular contemporary view that higher education would be wasted on women. Her medical crusade in Britain resulted in women's rights to professional careers and financial independence being more widely accepted.
After years of extensive lobbying, she founded the London School of Medicine for Women in 1874 and two years later, largely due to her efforts, legislation was passed enabling women to take qualifying examinations in medicine. Shirley Roberts shows Sophia Jex-Blake to have been a determined and resourceful pioneer, skilful in winning over both public and political opinion. But she was also an impetuous and at times tactless woman, who could provoke hostility, as well as loyalty. Sophia Jex-Blake is a fascinating account of one woman's struggle for equality.
After years of extensive lobbying, she founded the London School of Medicine for Women in 1874 and two years later, largely due to her efforts, legislation was passed enabling women to take qualifying examinations in medicine. Shirley Roberts shows Sophia Jex-Blake to have been a determined and resourceful pioneer, skilful in winning over both public and political opinion. But she was also an impetuous and at times tactless woman, who could provoke hostility, as well as loyalty. Sophia Jex-Blake is a fascinating account of one woman's struggle for equality.