Bertha Hosang Mah (November 18, 1896 – 1959) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

student, the first Chinese woman to graduate from a Canadian university.

Early life

Hosang was born in

Lillooet Lillooet () is a district municipality in the Squamish-Lillooet region of southwestern British Columbia. The town is on the west shore of the Fraser River immediately north of the Seton River mouth. On BC Highway 99, the locality is by road abo ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

,''Who's who of the Chinese Students in America''
(Lederer, Street & Zeus Company, 1921): 42. the daughter of Lena Hosang. Her older sister recalled, "We were the only Chinese family and there weren't any separate classes in the school, so we talked English all the time."

Education

Hosang attended

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

, first at the

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

satellite location (now the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

), and later at the Montreal campus; when she graduated in 1917, she was described as "the first Chinese woman graduated from a Canadian university". At McGill, she won an award for best speech, from the Women's Literary Society (Delta Sigma). She also won first prize in a national essay competition, with her article "Physical Education for Chinese Women", which was later published in ''Chinese Students' Monthly''. Hosang was elected to the University Women's Club of Vancouver in 1918, and gave a presentation to the group that year, on "Chinese Literature". Hosang worked as a secretary at the Chinese consulate in Vancouver in 1918 and 1919. Her older sister Myrtle Hosang Lee studied economics at the University of California in

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California *George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer to ...

Personal life

In May 1921, in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

, Hosang married Dr. Ng Wing Mah, a Chinese-born political scientist who taught at the University of California. They had three children, Winberta, Bertwing, and Lynn. Bertha Hosang Mah died in 1959, aged 62 years.R. A. Scalapino, E. C. Bellquist, P. Seabury
"Ng Wing Mah, Political Science: Berkeley"
''University of California: In Memoriam 1977'' (University of California Press 1977).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mah, Bertha Hosang 1896 births 1959 deaths McGill University alumni People from Lillooet Canadian emigrants to the United States