Tota Venkova | |
|---|---|
| Теодора Венкова Чехларова | |
 | |
| Born | Teodora Venkova Chehlarova 1855 |
| Died | (aged 66) |
| Other names | Teodora Chehlarova, Tota Chehlarova |
| Occupation(s) | Teacher, physician |
| Years active | 1873–1921 |
Teodora Venkova Chehlarova (Bulgarian: Теодора Венкова Чехларова; 1855 – 23 December 1921), known as Tota Venkova (Bulgarian: Тота Венкова), was a Bulgarian teacher and physician. She is widely credited as the first native woman to become a medical doctor in Bulgaria.[Notes 1] Orphaned at a young age, she was raised by her sister and given a scholarship by a charitable foundation to attend school, on the condition that she teach for five years after graduating. From 1873 to 1878 she taught at the Main Girls' School in Gabrovo. During the Russo-Turkish War, all of the schools in her hometown were turned into military hospitals and she worked as a volunteer nurse, deciding she wanted to study medicine.
Securing scholarships, Venkova studied in Saint Petersburg, Russia, became a physician and returned to Bulgaria. She worked in hospitals in Ruse, Tarnovo, and Varna before settling in Sofia. She completed specializations in internal medicine and pediatrics in 1893 in Saint Petersburg and in obstetrics and gynaecology in Vienna, Austria, in 1895. Returning to Sofia, she became the head of the maternity department at Aleksandrovska Hospital and was a founder and creator of the hospital's midwifery courses. Simultaneously she worked as a school doctor in 1899 and 1900. The following year, she opened a private practice and provided free medical consultations for disadvantaged women. She died in 1921 and left the bulk of her estate to institutions providing care for women and children. Streets, hospitals, and schools have been named in her honor and some of her belongings are housed at the Regional History Museum in Gabrovo.
- ^ a b Lovejoy 1957, p. 210.
- ^ Crampton 2007, p. 52.
- ^ Nazarska 2008, p. 234.
- ^ a b Nazarska 2016, p. 145.
- ^ Quovadis 2010, p. 15.
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