Did You Know - Marbai Ardesir Vaki

Marbai Ardesir Vakil, born 1868 in Bombay (Mumbai), India, was the first female Asian graduate of the University of Glasgow, obtaining an MBCM (Bachelor of Medicine, Master of Surgery) in 1897.

The eldest daughter of a solicitor, Marbai graduated BA from Wilson College, Bombay in 1888. She attended Grant Medical College in Bombay in 1888 and the London School of Medicine for Women in 1890, arriving in Glasgow in 1893.

She came to Glasgow’s Queen Margaret College Medical School in 1893, just as the women’s college was merging with the University. After graduation she spent two years working as a postgraduate in Glasgow, before returning to Bombay to work in several hospitals. Dr Vakil left for Aden in 1927, where she worked in Government service until 1931 and a private practice until 1941.  She died c.1948.