Virginia Pereira Álvarez (1888-12 April 1947) was the first Venezuelan woman to enroll in the medicine course in Venezuela.

Career

Pereira Álvarez was born in

Ciudad Bolívar Ciudad Bolívar (; Spanish for "Bolivar City"), formerly known as Angostura and St. Thomas de Guyana, is the capital of Venezuela's southeastern Bolívar, Venezuela, Bolívar State. It lies at the spot where the Orinoco River narrows to about ...

, Bolívar state, on 1888, and was a normalist teacher that graduated in 1903. She started her medicine studies in the

Central University of Venezuela The Central University of Venezuela (Spanish: ''Universidad Central de Venezuela''; UCV) is a public university of Venezuela located in Caracas. It is widely held to be the highest ranking institution in the country, and it also ranks 18th in L ...

in 1911, emigrating to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1912. She established herself 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 ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, in 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 ...

, obtaining her title in 1920. She returned to Venezuela in 1921, being part of the team that along with doctor

Arnoldo Gabaldón Arnoldo Gabaldón Carrillo (1 March 1909 in Trujillo, Trujillo, Trujillo, Trujillo State – 1 September 1990 in Caracas) was a physician, researcher and Venezuelan politician. He is recognized for his activism against malaria. His campaign ag ...

started researching the possible cures of

paludism Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, fatigue (medical), tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In se ...

. She died on 12 April 1947 in Philadelphia because of uncontrolled hypertension and heart complications. Her remains lie in Fernwood Cemetery.

References

1888 births 1947 deaths Venezuelan women scientists Central University of Venezuela alumni Burials at Fernwood Cemetery (Lansdowne, Pennsylvania) People from Ciudad Bolívar {{Venezuela-bio-stub