Ng'endo Mwangi (died October 30, 1989), also known as Florence Gladwell or Florence Mwangi Mwilu, was Kenya's first woman physician. She set up clinics serving a very large rural population. She was the first Black African woman to attend

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...

, and the first African student at

Albert Einstein College of Medicine The Albert Einstein College of Medicine is a Private university, private medical school in New York City. Founded in 1953, Einstein is an independent degree-granting institution within the Montefiore Einstein Health System. Einstein hosts Doc ...

Early life and education

Mwangi was born in Kinoo,

Kiambu Kiambu is a town in Kiambu County, Kenya. It is from the national capital, Nairobi. It is the capital of Kiambu County, which bounds the northern border of Nairobi. Other proximate towns are Ruiru, Gatundu, Limuru and Kabete. Administr ...

, Kenya, the daughter of Rahab Wambui Mwangi and Mwangi Muchiri. She attended

Loreto High school, Limuru Loreto High School Limuru is an all girls' National School located in the highlands of Limuru, Kiambu County, Central Kenya. It is approximately from the capital city of Nairobi, Kenya. History On 4 December 1936, Loreto Limuru High School open ...

, as part of its pioneer class. Mwangi studied in the United States under

the Kennedy Airlifts The Kennedy Airlift was started in 1959 by a 28-year-old Kenyan, Tom Mboya, who sought support for promising Kenyan students to get college and university educations in the United States and Canada. It brought hundreds of students from East Africa ...

program, and became the first black African woman to attend Smith College in Massachusetts. She graduated from Smith College in 1961, after which she became the first African student at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City.

Career

Returning to Kenya as a qualified physician, Mwangi opened her first practice, the

Athi River Athi River is a town outside Nairobi, Kenya in Machakos County. The town is named after the Athi-Galana-Sabaki River, Athi River, which passes through. It is also known as Mavoko. Athi River hosts the Mavoko Municipal Council and is the headq ...

Clinic, in an arid rural region southeast of

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

where she was the only doctor for over 300,000

Maasai people The Maasai (;) are a Nilotic peoples, Nilotic ethnic group inhabiting northern, central and southern Kenya and northern Tanzania, near the African Great Lakes region.

. In 1987 she founded the Reto Medical Center at

Sultan Hamud Sultan Hamud is a town in Kasikeu division of Makueni County, Kenya. It was previously in the former Nzaui District of Eastern Province (Kenya), Eastern Province. It is located along Nairobi-Mombasa Highway between Emali town and Salama town. Th ...

Honors

Members of the Black Students Alliance at Smith College made the case for additional facilities on campus and, in 1973, the Mwangi Cultural Center was established and named in her honor. At that time the center was located at Lilly Hall but it later was moved to the Davis Center at Smith College. She was awarded an honorary degree by Smith College in 1987. In 2005, the Mwangi Center was renovated and rededicated, with a keynote address by her daughter Wangui Mwangi.

Personal life

Mwangi formally changed her name from Florence Gladwell in 1967. She died of breast cancer in 1989, in Nairobi.

References

External links

"Florence Gladwell Mwangi, from Kenya, 1961"
(photograph), Smith College Special Collections {{DEFAULTSORT:Mwangi, Ng'endo 1989 deaths Kenyan general practitioners Smith College alumni Albert Einstein College of Medicine alumni 20th-century Kenyan physicians 20th-century Kenyan women physicians