2022Figures From Portuguese History and Culture - Special Folder

Maria de Lourdes Levy
Hearing a member of a panel of examiners say that she would do better as a housewife didn’t stop Maria de Lourdes Levy (1921-2015) from being the second woman to earn a doctorate in medicine in Portugal, in 1958. Regarded as the matriarch of paediatrics in the country, she was a pioneer in adolescent medicine. She advocated for the humanisation of hospital care, through the improvement of visiting conditions and parents being allowed to accompany their children. A professor at the University of Lisbon, she also co-founded the Instituto de Apoio à Criança (Institute for Child Support).