Zerefeh Bashur

Zerefeh Bashur was born in 1884 into an Orthodox Christian family in Safita, Syria, then a part of the Ottoman Empire. She came from a family of physicians and decided to pursue a career in medicine herself, noticing that many women in her region lacked access to proper health care. She studied in the American Protestant School in Safita and the Tripoli Girls School in Lebanon, before convincing her father to let her go to the United States for higher education. She enrolled in the University of Illinois College of Medicine in 1907 and graduated in 1911, becoming the first female licensed physician in the Levant. She returned to the Middle East and practiced in Tripoli and Safita until her death in 1968, bringing modern medicine to women in the region for the first time. She delivered thousands of newborns and treated various diseases and ailments. She was also a philanthropist and a social activist, supporting women's education and empowerment. She was a respected and admired figure in her community and a role model for many aspiring female doctors. She died of natural causes in 1968, leaving behind a legacy of medical excellence and social service.