Jemima "Mina" MacKenzie (August 18, 1872 – January 27, 1957) was a Canadian Christian medical
missionary
A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...
to
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
.
Life
A daughter of farmers Simon and Ann (Murray) MacKenzie, she was born August 18, 1872, in Waterside,
Pictou County
Pictou County is a county in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. It was established in 1835, and was formerly a part of Halifax County from 1759 to 1835. It had a population of 43,657 people in 2021, a decline of 0.2 percent from 2016. Furthermo ...
,
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
, Canada;
[ Dalhousie University website, ''Building a better world: Dr. Mina’s legacy'', article by Marilyn Smulders dated April 19, 2013]
/ref> she was the youngest of 14 children. MacKenzie led her class in surgery
Surgery ''cheirourgikē'' (composed of χείρ, "hand", and ἔργον, "work"), via la, chirurgiae, meaning "hand work". is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a person to investigate or treat a pat ...
and graduated from Dalhousie University
Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the fou ...
in 1904 as one of the university's earliest female doctors.
After working in Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
to raise tuition money to enable her sister Molly to also complete a medical degree from Dalhousie, MacKenzie left America in September 1904 and traveled to India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
to work as a medical missionary with the Women’s Union Missionary Society of America. In 1909, MacKenzie established the Broadwell Christian Hospital in Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh
Fatehpur is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. The city is situated between the rivers Ganga and Yamuna. The city has been named after Babu Fateh Chandra who helped Rani Lakshmi Bai in freedom fight as well. It is located south of s ...
, where she and her sister Mary worked for many years. MacKenzie's tireless efforts helped control the cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...
epidemic during the 1917 Kumbh Mela
Kumbh Mela or Kumbha Mela () is a major pilgrimage and festival in Hinduism. It is celebrated in a cycle of approximately 12 years, to celebrate every revolution Brihaspati (Jupiter) completes, at four river-bank pilgrimage sites: Allahabad ( ...
pilgrimage.
MacKenzie returned to Canada in 1920 to nurse her father; after his death in 1922, she returned to India to work with the 44 children who she had adopted during her time there.
MacKenzie dedicated over three decades to provide medical services to the poor and sick in India. In 1919, she was awarded the Kaiser-i-Hind Medal
The Kaisar-i-Hind Medal for Public Service in India was a medal awarded by the Emperor/Empress of India between 1900 and 1947, to "any person without distinction of race, occupation, position, or sex ... who shall have distinguished himself (o ...
for Public Service in India and in 1940, Dalhousie University awarded her an honorary LLD degree.
Legacy
The Dr Mina MacKenzie Memorial Trust Fund was set up to fund the Broadwell Christian Hospital and other healthcare in the area. Mina Trust Fund website, retrieved 2024-06-06
/ref>
References
Further reading
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*Canadiana - Volume 2 - Page 1143
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:MacKenzie, Mina 1
Canadian Protestant missionaries
Christian medical missionaries
Female Christian missionaries
People from Kanpur
Protestant missionaries in India
1872 births
1957 deaths
People from Pictou County
Dalhousie University alumni
Canadian expatriates in India