Varvara Rudneva

Varvara Aleksandrova Kashevarova-Rudneva was a Russian medical doctor. Rudneva was the second woman in Russia to become a doctor, after Nadezhda Suslova. She was the first woman in Russia to become a doctor and to have completed her education at a Russian medical school, an event which occurred at a time when women were barred from receiving training at such universities. Despite the ban, she was given a unique permission to study for her desire to treat women patients who refused to be treated by male doctors due to their religious beliefs. Her attendance at St. Petersburg Medical Surgical Academy, and later medical practice, were thereby unique in Russia, thus garnering attention from both the medical field and general public, making her a notoriously controversial figure.