Rita Lobato

Rita Lobato Velho Lopes was the first woman to earn a degree in Brazil to practice medicine. She was the second Brazilian woman physician, following Maria Augusta Generoso Estrela, who earned a degree from the New York Medical College and Hospital for Women in 1881. Lobato received her degree in 1887 from the Faculty of Medicine of Bahia. Her initial enrollment caused debate, with some people arguing that women had brains too small to understand medicine or that a female doctor would never find a husband, although others were in favor of her entrance and the Echo das Damas saw her as an example for Brazilian girls. She did, in fact, marry and practised medicine for several years.