Marie K. Formad (1860 – February 21, 1944) was a Russian Empire-born American physician based in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Early life

Formad was born in Russia. She moved to the United States in 1883. Her older brother (sometimes mistakenly referred to as her father) Henry F. Formad was a pathology professor on the faculty at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

, and served as Coroner's Physician in Philadelphia. Another brother, Robert Julius Formad, was also a pathologist, an expert on veterinary oncology. Marie Formad graduated from the

Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania The Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania (WMCP) was founded in 1850, and was the second medical institution in the world established to train women in medicine to earn the M.D. degree. The New England Female Medical College had been established ...

in 1886, with a thesis titled "Some Notes on Criminal Abortion".

Career

Formad was elected to the post of vaccine physician for Philadelphia's Eleventh District in 1887. She worked for 52 years at

Woman's Hospital of Philadelphia The Woman's Hospital of Philadelphia was established in 1861 to provide clinical experience for Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania students, a group of Quaker women, particularly Ann Preston. History Its purposes were to “establish in Phila ...

, as a teaching surgeon, gynecologist, and pathologist. She was the first woman member of the Obstetrical Society of Philadelphia. With Calista V. Luther and two other women doctors, she ran an evening dispensary, the Medical Aid Society for Self-Supporting Women, to treat working women at a more convenient time than other clinics. She retired in 1938. 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 ...

, Formad accepted a commission as a surgeon in the French army in 1917. She served fourteen months, from January 1918 to March 1919, in a Women's Overseas Hospital (WOH) unit in France. She directed and performed surgery a 125-bed refugee hospital at

Labouheyre Labouheyre (; oc, La Bohèira) is a commune in the Landes department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in south-western France. See also *Communes of the Landes department *Parc naturel régional des Landes de Gascogne Landes de Gascogne Regional Natur ...

, supported by the

National Woman Suffrage Association The National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) was formed on May 15, 1869, to work for women's suffrage in the United States. Its main leaders were Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. It was created after the women's rights movement spl ...

, working alongside doctors Laura E. Hunt and Mabel Seagrave. The hospital grew under Formad's direction, and served about 10,000 refugees during its existence; two of the American nurses at Labouheyre, Winifred Warder and Eva Emmons, died from

influenza Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptoms ...

there. After the armistice, Formad went to Nancy to work as a surgeon caring for repatriating French civilians. She received the Medaille d'honneur from the French government for her wartime service.

Personal life

Marie Formad cared for her older brother Henry in his last months; he died in 1892. She died in 1944, aged 83 years, in Philadelphia. She left her estate mainly to her two nieces, Marie and Charlotte.

References

External links

An undated portrait of Marie Formad
in the collection of the

Drexel University College of Medicine Drexel University College of Medicine is the medical school of Drexel University, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The medical school represents the consolidation of two medical schools: the first U.S. medical school ...

Archives and Special Collections. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Formad, Marie K. 1860 births 1944 deaths 19th-century American women physicians 19th-century American physicians American women in World War I Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States