Linda Bryder (born 1956) is a

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

medical history academic. In 2008, she was appointed professor at the

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

Academic career

After completing a MA(Hons) at the

, and a 1985

DPhil A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

thesis on the social history of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

in Britain, at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, Bryder returned to Auckland, where she continued her research into the social history of medicine. Bryder's highest profile work has been in relation to the

Cartwright Inquiry The Cartwright Inquiry was a committee of inquiry held in New Zealand from 1987 to 1988 that was commissioned by the Minister of Health, Michael Bassett, to investigate whether, as alleged in an article in ''Metro'' magazine, there had been a f ...

into the 'unfortunate experiment'. Her 2009 book ''A History of the 'Unfortunate Experiment' at National Women's Hospital'' did not support one of the inquiry's central findings (that there had been a prospective study) and attracted a great deal of attention in academia and in the popular press. In 2010, Bryder wrote an editorial in the ''New Zealand Medical Journal'', by invitation, responding to criticisms of her book. In 2018, she published a letter in the ''New Zealand Medical Journal'' drawing on new relevant international research. In 2019 and 2020, studies were published in Britain validating her original findings. Bryder has over 100 academic publications. These include a history of

National Women's Hospital National Women's Hospital, founded in 1955, was a public hospital specialising in obstetrics and gynaecology in Auckland, New Zealand. Initially located in Cornwall Hospital it moved to a purpose built building adjacent to Green Lane Hospital, A ...

and a history of the Royal New Zealand

Plunket Society The Royal New Zealand Plunket Trust provides a range of free services aimed at improving the development, health and wellbeing of children under the age of five within New Zealand, where it is commonly known simply as Plunket. Its mission is ...

, and her 2024 book ''The Best Country to Give Birth?'' which investigates the midwifery movement in New Zealand. In 2009, Bryder was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned or professional societies, the term refers ...

Selected works

* Bryder, Linda (1987). "The first world war: healthy or hungry?." ''

History Workshop Journal The ''History Workshop Journal'' is a British academic history journal published by Oxford University Press. ''History Workshop'' was founded in 1976 by Raphael Samuel and others involved in the History Workshop movement. Originally sub-titled " ...

'', vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 141–157. Oxford University Press. * Bryder, Linda (1988). ''Below the magic mountain: a social history of tuberculosis in twentieth-century Britain''.

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. * Bryder, Linda (ed.) (1991). ''A Healthy Country: Essays on the Social History of Medicine in New Zealand.'' Bridget Williams Books. * * Rice, Geoffrey, and Linda Bryder (2005). ''Black November: the 1918 influenza pandemic in New Zealand''.

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury (UC; ; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbur ...

,. * Bryder, Linda (2008). "Debates about Cervical Screening: An Historical Overview", ''Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health'', ''62 (4),'' 284-287. DOI:10.1136/jech.2006.059246. * Bryder, Linda (2009). ''A History of the 'Unfortunate Experiment' at National Women's Hospital''.

Auckland University Press Auckland University Press is a New Zealand publisher that produces creative and scholarly work for a general audience. Founded in 1966 and formally recognised as Auckland University Press in 1972, it is a publisher based within the University ...

. * Bryder, Linda (2014). ''The Rise and Fall of National Women’s Hospital: A History.'' Auckland University Press.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bryder, Linda 1959 births Living people New Zealand women historians Alumni of the University of Oxford Academic staff of the University of Auckland 20th-century New Zealand historians 21st-century New Zealand historians Medical historians Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand