Jerusha Jacob Jhirad FRCOG,

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(21 March 1891 – 2 June 1984) was an Indian physician.Sharon Kirsh, Florence Kirsh (2002). ''Fabulous Female Physicians''. Second Story Press. . pp. 40-48

Early life and education

Jhirad born in

Shivamogga Shimoga, officially known as Shivamogga, is a city and the district headquarters of Shimoga district in the central part of the state of Karnataka, India. The city lies on the banks of the Tunga River. Being the gateway for the hilly region of ...

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

. She was a member of the

Bene Israel The Bene Israel (), also referred to as the "Shanivar Teli" () or " Native Jew" caste, are a community of Jews in India. It has been suggested that they are the descendants of one of the Ten Lost Tribes via their ancestors who had settled there ce ...

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

community. She attended high school in

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

, then

Grant Medical College The Grant Government Medical College, Mumbai, is a public medical college, affiliated to the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences. Founded in 1845, it is one of the oldest institutions teaching medicine in South Asia. Its clinical affil ...

in Bombay, where she became a Licentiate in Medicine and Surgery with an L.M.S. diploma in 1912. She was the first woman to be granted a scholarship by the Indian government to study abroad. In England she studied at the London School of Medicine for Women (based at the

Royal Free Hospital The Royal Free Hospital (also known simply as the Royal Free) is a major teaching hospital in the Hampstead area of the London Borough of Camden. The hospital is part of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, which also runs services at Barn ...

), re-qualified as a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (

MB BS Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United King ...

) of the University of London in 1917 and went on to a doctorate (

M.D. Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. T ...

) in 1919 in Midwifery and Diseases of Women. Specializing in

obstetrics and gynaecology Obstetrics and Gynaecology (also spelled as Obstetrics and Gynecology; abbreviated as Obs and Gynae, O&G, OB-GYN and OB/GYN) is the medical specialty that encompasses the two subspecialties of obstetrics (covering pregnancy, childbirth, and t ...

she worked as a House Surgeon at the

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital The Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and Obstetric Hospital and its predecessor organisations provided health care to women in central London from the mid-Victorian era. It was named after Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, one of Britain's first female phys ...

in London in 1917 and at the Birmingham Maternity Hospital in 1918 before returning to India.

Career

While she was studying in England during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Jhirad was an obstetric assistant and house surgeon at the

in London, and house surgeon at a maternity hospital in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. Back in India by 1920, she was briefly an obstetrician at the Lady Hardinge Hospital in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

. From 1920 to 1924, she was medical officer-in-charge at the maternity hospital in

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

. From 1925 to 1928 she was on the staff of the Cama Hospital in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, where she served as medical officer-in-charge in 1929 to 1947. Jhirad was appointed a

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

in 1931. In 1934 she provided medical assistance to survivors of an earthquake in

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

. In 1937 and 1938 she made a statistical study of

maternal mortality Maternal death or maternal mortality is defined in slightly different ways by several different health organizations. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines maternal death as the death of a pregnant mother due to complications related to pre ...

in Bombay.Jhirad, Jerusha
"Report on an investigation into the causes of maternal mortality in the city of Bombay."
Health Bulletin No. 29 (1941). She was a founding member and president of the Bombay Obstetric and Gynaecological Society'','' and president of the Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI). and from 1947 to 1957 president of the Association of Medical Women in India (AMWI). She wrote in favor of sex education and healthy recreational options to limit unplanned pregnancies. In 1950 she presided at the 6th All India Obstetric and Gynaecological Congress, held in

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

. Jhirad was also a pioneer of

Progressive Judaism Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous searc ...

; after attending mixed-gender prayers at the Jewish Religious Union (JRU), she returned to Mumbai and founded a JRU-affiliated congregation among the Bene Israel with her sister Leah in 1925.

Selected publications

* "Medico-social work" (1929) * "Maternal Mortality" (1936) * "Report on an investigation into the causes of maternal mortality in the city of Bombay." (1941) * "Uterine Inversion" (1946) * "Women in the Medical Profession" (1960) * "Practical aspects of birth control" (1963) * "Role of legalization of abortions in population control" (1964) * "Careers for Medical Women in India" (1964) * "Ante-natal diagnosis" (1966) * "Obstetrics Then and Now" (1968)

Honours

In 1945, Jhirad was awarded an

by the British government. In 1947, she was elected a Fellow of the

Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) is a professional association based in London, United Kingdom. Its members, including people with and without medical degrees, work in the field of obstetrics and gynaecology, that is ...

. In 1966, she was awarded the

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

. The

Venusian crater This is a list of craters on Venus, named by the International Astronomical Union's (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature. All craters on Venus are named after famous women or female first names. ''(For features on Venus othe ...

Jhirad was named after her.

Personal life

Jhirad wrote a short autobiography in 1975, which informed her niece's biography of her, ''A Dream Realised: Biography of Dr Jerusha J. Jhirad'' (1990). She died in 1984, aged 93 years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jhirad, Jerusha 1891 births 1984 deaths Indian women medical doctors 20th-century Indian women scientists 20th-century Indian medical doctors Recipients of the Padma Shri in medicine Bene Israel Liberal Judaism (United Kingdom) Medical doctors from Mumbai Jewish scientists 20th-century women physicians Jewish women scientists Jewish physicians