Matilde Montoya

Mexico's first female physician who shattered gender barriers in 19th-century Latin American medicine.

When Matilde Montoya (1859–1939) enrolled at Mexico’s National Medical School in 1882, newspapers mocked her as a lady trying to be a man. Undeterred, she petitioned President Porfirio Díaz directly, who intervened to allow her exams. Her 1887 graduation made hemispheric history, inspiring Latin America’s ‘medicas’ movement.

Montoya faced relentless sexism: male classmates threw garbage at her, and conservative doctors refused to supervise her obstetrics training. She pioneered prenatal care for indigenous women, establishing Mexico City’s first maternity clinic in 1890. Though contemporaries like José María Rodríguez dismissed her, modern scholars credit her with normalizing women in STEM.

Her legacy is paradoxical—celebrated on Mexican postage stamps yet omitted from many medical histories. The 2019 Google Doodle honoring her reignited debates about historical erasure of pioneering women. As WHO notes, her struggle mirrors ongoing gender gaps in global healthcare leadership.