Isabella Kerr (née Gunn; 30 May 1875 – 12 January 1932) was a Scottish

medical missionary Medical missions is the term used for Christian missionary endeavors that involve the administration of medical treatment. As has been common among missionary efforts from the 18th to 20th centuries, medical missions often involves residents of t ...

who worked in

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

in the early 20th-century. She created the Victoria Leprosy Centre in

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

. She worked to cure

leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria '' Mycobacterium leprae'' or '' Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve da ...

in India.

Early life and education

Isabella Kerr was born in Gollachy, Enzie in

Banffshire Banffshire ; sco, Coontie o Banffshire; gd, Siorrachd Bhanbh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. The county town is Banff, although the largest settlement is Buckie to the west. It borders the Mora ...

(now Moray), Scotland on 30 May 1875. Her parents were Mary Garden and John Bain Gunn, a farmer. Kerr studied medicine at the

University of Aberdeen , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

receiving her MB ChB in 1903.

Career

Kerr met and married the Reverend George McGlashan Kerr, a former

joiner A joiner is an artisan and tradesperson who builds things by Woodworking joints, joining pieces of wood, particularly lighter and more ornamental work than that done by a Carpentry, carpenter, including furniture and the "fittings" of a house, ...

, who had returned from being a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally k ...

. They married in 1903, and worked together in England until the

Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan–Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charles We ...

sent the Kerrs to

in India in 1907. At their mission, Kerr and her husband worked on unrelated work but they both realised that the treatment of patients with

was inadequate. In 1911, Kerr opened a leprosy centre at the mission in Nizamabad, Telangana, but in time, it attracted more patients than it could accommodate. With financial assistance from Raja Narsa Goud (Narsagoud) a Hindu philanthropist, who helped them receive a donation from the Nizam of Hyderabad,

Mir Osman Ali Khan Mir Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII (5 or 6 April 1886 — 24 February 1967), was the last Nizam (ruler) of the Princely State of Hyderabad, the largest princely state in British India. He ascended the throne on 29 August 1911, at the age o ...

, the last local ruler, to help build the Victoria Treatment Hospital on land the ruler donated at Dichpali, and in 1915, this larger and more permanent facility opened. By the early 1920s, the hospital had grown to more than 120 buildings. Kerr worked with Ernest Muir who had piloted the use of hydnocarpus oil (

chaulmoogra ''Hydnocarpus wightianus'' or chaulmoogra is a tree in the Achariaceae family. ''Hydnocarpus wightiana'' seed oil has been widely used in traditional Indian medicine, especially in Ayurveda, and in Chinese traditional medicine for the treatmen ...

tree) to treat leprosy, based on earlier research by Leonard Rogers, who began the

British Empire Leprosy Relief Association Lepra (Leprosy Relief Association) is a UK-based international charity established in 1924, working to diagnose, treat, and rehabilitate people with leprosy. Lepra currently works in India, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. Lepra is a member of the In ...

. The Kerrs' centre at Dichpali was seen as leading the campaign against leprosy, and Kerr's writing helped make this the standard treatment throughout India. Kerr and her husband were awarded Kaisar-i-Hind Medals in 1923.

Death and legacy

Kerr died suddenly in 1932. In her obituary it was said that 'Her medical skill and her devotion to the cause of the leper, together with her modest reserve and womanly charm, won her innumerable friends both in India and at home.' Her husband remained in India until 1938 when he retired to Scotland. In the 1960s, the leprosy centre that she founded had over 400 patients.Victoria Leprosy Hospital (Dichpali / Dichpalli)
LeprosyHistory, Retrieved 13 March 2017 The papers of Kerr and her husband are held in

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

.Papers of George McGlashan Kerr and Isabel Kerr
International Leprosy Association, Retrieved 13 April 2017

Awards and honours

* Kaisar-i-Hind Medal, 1923

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr, Isabel 1875 births 1932 deaths 20th-century British medical doctors Scottish women medical doctors Recipients of the Kaisar-i-Hind Medal Christian medical missionaries University of Adelaide alumni Alumni of the University of Aberdeen 20th-century women physicians Wesleyan Methodists Scottish Methodist missionaries Methodist missionaries in India Female Christian missionaries