Mary Rushton Barkas (7 September 1889 – 17 April 1959) was a psychiatrist, physician and author from New Zealand. She worked at the

Bethlem Royal Hospital Bethlem Royal Hospital, also known as St Mary Bethlehem, Bethlehem Hospital and Bedlam, is a psychiatric hospital in London. Its famous history has inspired several horror books, films and TV series, most notably '' Bedlam'', a 1946 film with ...

, where she was the first female house physician, and the

Maudsley Hospital The Maudsley Hospital is a British psychiatric hospital in south London. The Maudsley is the largest mental health training institution in the UK. It is part of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, and works in partnership with the In ...

in London, United Kingdom.

Early life

Mary Rushton Barkas was born in 1889 in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, New Zealand, to Frederick Barkas, who worked at the

New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company provided investments and loans for trade and commerce in New Zealand and Australia. Notable people * James Beard, the 1889 New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Building architect * John Logan Cam ...

, and Amy Barkas Parker. She attended

Christchurch Girls' High School Christchurch Girls' High School in Christchurch, New Zealand, was established in 1877 and is the second oldest girls-only secondary school in the country, after Otago Girls' High School. History Christchurch Girls' High School was established i ...

and was the

dux ''Dux'' (; plural: ''ducēs'') is Latin for "leader" (from the noun ''dux, ducis'', "leader, general") and later for duke and its variant forms (doge, duce, etc.). During the Roman Republic and for the first centuries of the Roman Empire, '' ...

of the school in 1905. She went on to study at

Victoria University College Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, graduating with a

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

in 1908, and an MSc in 1910, and later studied under

Carl Jung Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Jung's work has been influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, philo ...

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

. During the

First World War 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 ...

, she studied medicine at St Mary's Hospital and the

London School of Medicine for Women The London School of Medicine for Women (LSMW) established in 1874 was the first medical school in Britain to train women as doctors. The patrons, vice-presidents, and members of the committee that supported and helped found the London School of Me ...

, graduating in 1918. At the outbreak of war she was in Switzerland on a tramping trip; it took several weeks to return to London. In 1922, Barkas travelled to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

to study for a graduate diploma, where she worked under

Otto Rank Otto Rank (; ; né Rosenfeld; 22 April 1884 – 31 October 1939) was an Austrian psychoanalyst, writer, and philosopher. Born in Vienna, he was one of Sigmund Freud's closest colleagues for 20 years, a prolific writer on psychoanalytic themes, ...

Career

In 1919, Barkas became the first female house physician at the

. In 1923, Barkas was one of four full-time psychiatrists employed at the newly opened

, and she worked there until 1927. Her work focused upon organic psychiatry,

psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might b ...

and

child psychiatry Child and adolescent psychiatry (or pediatric psychiatry) is a branch of psychiatry that focuses on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental disorders in children, adolescents, and their families. It investigates the biopsychosocial fact ...

, and she described the hospital as a "shelter and refuge" which offered "complete protection and satisfaction of all needs." From 1928 to 1933, Barkas worked as a Medical Superintendent at The Lawn Hospital in

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

. In this role, Barkas helped to reduce the expenditure of the hospital. After her father died in 1932, Barkas retired and returned to New Zealand. She moved to Tapu, and studied

Chinese philosophy Chinese philosophy originates in the Spring and Autumn period () and Warring States period (), during a period known as the "Hundred Schools of Thought", which was characterized by significant intellectual and cultural developmen ...

. In 1937, she wrote the

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

book ''Wages for Wives'', which challenged the stereotypical views of working women in New Zealand. In the same year, she was one of 15 psychologists who provided references for Arthur Segal's application for a British work permit.

Death

Barkas died at Tapu near

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

on 17 April 1959, and was cremated at Purewa Cemetery on 20 April, although some accounts suggest she died in 1961.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barkas, Mary 1889 births 1959 deaths New Zealand women medical doctors New Zealand psychiatrists People from Christchurch Alumni of King's College London Victoria University of Wellington alumni Alumni of the London School of Medicine for Women New Zealand women psychiatrists 20th-century New Zealand medical doctors People educated at Christchurch Girls' High School Physicians of the Maudsley Hospital 20th-century women physicians