(1865 – 1925)
Tavistock Square, London WC1H
“The path of the just is as the shining light”
Fourth statue out of 128 and still on day one, I’m already starting to feel a little overwhelmed by the task of visiting more statues, as dates, professions and skills are already mingling in my mind.
Born in Chingford, Essex, Louisa would go on to be one of the first British women to enter the world of modern medicine and the first to obtain the degree of Master of Surgery.
Public Statues and Sculptures Association website tells us she was also a skilled boxer and cricketer https://pssauk.org/woman/test/ so you can imagine her UCAS application form to study medicine made her stand out as a good ‘all rounder’ candidate.
Pioneering in the treatment of cervical and rectal cancers, she later became the very first surgeon of either sex to perform operations for cervical and rectal cancer. Sadly she was to die of cancer in 1925.
Tavistock Square also hosts a bust of Virgina Woolf – let’s visit her next!
Sculpture Arthur George Walker https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_George_Walker
Design by Whitehall Cenotaph creator Edwin Lutyens https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Lutyens
WomenstatuesUK 