Dr Jamini Sen (1871-1932) by Grace Payne-Kumar, 2024. Oil on canvas
On 21st August 2024 we launched a brand new portrait of our first female fellow, Bengali physician Dr Jamini Sen (1871-1932). In 1912, she became the first female surgeon to be admitted to the College after women were allowed to sit the examinations necessary for fellowship in the 1880s. The College commissioned artist Grace Payne-Kumar to paint the posthumous portrait earlier this year. It is the first portrait of a woman to hang amongst the portraits in College Hall.
Jamini Sen was born in 1871 in Bengal and studied at Calcutta Medical College where she obtained a medical license in 1897. She went on to practice in Nepal from 1899 until 1909, attending as a doctor to the Nepalese Royal family.
In 1911 she was awarded a scholarship with the Lady Dufferin Foundation. This allowed her to travel widely, where she expanded her skills as surgeon and eventually obtained a further medical license in Dublin. Her desire to learn and advance medical education is reflected in her words: “I have a lot of responsibilities towards my sisters in my country.”
She became a Fellow of the College in 1912, after passing the fellowship exam as a surgeon. It was only in the 1880s that the Royal College began to allow women to sit the examinations necessary to obtain fellowship. However, she was not allowed to hold office in the College and therefore her privileges as a fellow were restricted compared to her male counterparts.
The commissioning and launch of this brand new portrait follows the College’s recent Admitting Women exhibition. This sought to address the history of gender inequality in medicine and the College in particular. It especially acknowledged the contribution of three pioneering women doctors who, from 1897 had attempted to gain admittance: Elizabeth Adelaide Baker, Jessie MacLaren MacGregor and Anne Louise McIlroy.
Jamini Sen was an advocate for better working conditions for female doctors in India and improving access to care for female patients. She was a trailblazer for gender equality in the medical profession and helped pave the way for the diverse, global community the Royal College is proud to represent today.
Further research into the history of South Asian medical professionals
We are continuing to research the history of South Asian doctors gaining qualifications through the College. A previous blog post explored the history of our South Asian licentiates and we are now working with Monique Lerpiniere, a PhD student with the University of Strathclyde (Centre for the Social History of Health and Healthcare) on ‘A Hidden Migration History: South Asian Medical Professionals in Scotland 1872-Present’, which aims to document and make accessible these histories that have yet to be told. Deriving from the findings of an internship conducted in 2022 at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons Glasgow and funded by the Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanities, this project is a part of a gradual shift within the Scottish heritage sector to facilitate more accurate portrayals of the country’s history by confronting often uncomfortable subject matter such as colonialism, racism and migration.