Lamu Amatya (; 27 January 1932 – 1 June 2012) was the first Nepalese trained–nurse. She received her nursing degree in 1954 and started working in 1956. In 2017, the Ministry of Health and Population of Nepal certified and declared her as the first Nepalese nurse posthumously. Her son Yogeshwar Amatya, a popular Nepalese singer and musician, accepted the certificate on her behalf.

Early life and education

Amatya was born as Lamu Palden on 27 January 1932 (14 Magh 1988 BS) in

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a city in the northernmost region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the Koshi Pr ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. When Lamu was very young, her mother died. Her father Sirdar Karma 'Paul' Palden was a mountaineer. Palden was originally from

Solukhumbu district Solukhumbu District ( , Sherpa: , Wylie: shar khum bu dzong) is one of 14 districts of Koshi Province of eastern Nepal. As the name suggests, it consists of the sub-regions Solu and Khumbu. The closest post office to Solukhumbu with a postal co ...

. He was the porter and interpreter of the mountaineers

George Mallory George Herbert Leigh-Mallory (18 June 1886 – 8 or 9 June 1924) was an English Mountaineering, mountaineer who participated in the first three British Mount Everest expeditions from the early to mid-1920s. He and climbing partner An ...

and Andrew "Sandy" Irvine during the 1924 British Mount Everest expedition. Later, Karma moved to Darjeeling, which was a major mountaineering hub at that time. After the death of Lamu's mother, Karma remarried. Lamu was sent to

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

for her education, where she grew up. She received her nursing degree from Kolkata Medical College in 1954.

Marriage

Lamu Amatya met her future husband, Bhubaneswar Amatya, in Kolkata, while she was training as a nurse. Bhubaneswar Amatya was studying dentistry in Kolkata. One day he had gone to Calcutta Medical College for his leg treatment, there he met Lamu and fell in love with her. Bhubaneswar Amatya then frequently visited her. They married in 1953. After completing her nursing degree in 1954, they returned to Nepal and she became a

naturalised citizen Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

of Nepal.

Nursing career

During the time, Amatya came to Kathmandu, the

maternal mortality Maternal death or maternal mortality is defined in slightly different ways by several different health organizations. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines maternal death as the death of a pregnant mother due to complications related to p ...

was very high in Nepal. Indra Rajya Laxmi Shah, the wife of

King Mahendra Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev (; 11 June 1920 – 31 January 1972) was King of Nepal from 13 March 1955 until his death in 1972. He led the 1960 Nepal coup d'état, 1960 coup d'état, in which he dismissed the government, jailed other political ...

had also died during childbirth in 1950. Mahendra heard about the arrival of Amatya in Kathmandu and met her. He asked her to open a nursing school in Kathmandu. So, on 13 March 1956 (30 Falgun 2032 BS), Amatya opened the first ever nursing school in Nepal by renting a building in Chhetrapati. The Nepal Nursing Association was also established under Lamu's leadership.

First Nepalese nurse title

The first Nepalese nurse title was debated for a long time between her and Uma Devi Das. On 30 April 2017 (7 Magh 2073 BS), Gagan Thapa, the then Minister of Health and Population declared Amatya as the first nurse of Nepal. Both Amatya's and Das' family had provided evidences regarding the claim to the title of first ever Nepalese nurse, and Amatya was decided based on those evidences. The title and certificate was provided to Amatya posthumously. Yogeshwar Amatya, Lamu Amatya's son received the official certificate on her behalf.

Personal life and death

She died on 1 June 2012 (19 Jestha 2069 BS), due to

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

. Her son Yogeshwar Amatya is a popular Nepali singer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amatya, Lamu 1932 births 2012 deaths People from Darjeeling Nepalese nurses Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata alumni Nepalese women nurses