Dr Ruth Bensusan-Butt, née Bensusan, (1877-1957) was the first female medical doctor in

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colc ...

. She was the sister-in-law of the painter

Lucien Pissarro Lucien Pissarro (20 February 1863 – 10 July 1944) was a landscape painter, printmaker, wood engraver and designer and printer of fine books. His landscape paintings employ techniques of Impressionism and Neo-Impressionism, but he also exhibi ...

, who had married Esther Bensusan, Ruth's older sister. She was born in

Anerley Anerley () is an area of south east London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is located south south-east of Charing Cross, to the south of Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, west of Penge, north of Elmers End and South Nor ...

to a Jewish family. When the family moved to

Upper Norwood Upper Norwood is an area of south London, England, within the London Boroughs of Bromley, Croydon, Lambeth and Southwark. It is north of Croydon and the eastern part of it is better known as the Crystal Palace area. Upper Norwood is situated ...

she went to

Sydenham High School Sydenham High School is an independent school for 4- to 18-year-old girls located in London, England. Sydenham High School was founded by the Girls’ Public Day School Trust in 1887. Since then, the original school roll of 20 pupils has grown ...

. She trained at the

University of Zurich The University of Zürich (UZH, german: Universität Zürich) is a public research university located in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 ...

, the

Royal Free Hospital The Royal Free Hospital (also known simply as the Royal Free) is a major teaching hospital in the Hampstead area of the London Borough of Camden. The hospital is part of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, which also runs services at B ...

and in Dublin and qualified in 1904. She spent several years in Italy and was married in Naples in 1910. When an

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

struck Italy in 1907, Bensusan organised food, medical supplies and clothes for the refugees from Rome, She later sailed, along with doctors

Caroline Matthews Caroline Twigge Matthews, MBChB (1877 –1927) was a British doctor and war correspondent, and was dubbed a 'war heroine'. She served in the Italian Red Cross in the 1908 Messina earthquake, and in military hospitals during the Balkans War and ...

and Worthington, to the scene of the quake in Calabria. In 1909 she went to the

Fabian Society The Fabian Society is a British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in democracies, rather than by revolutionary overthrow. The F ...

summer school in North Wales and became an active suffragist, sometimes marching in her medical gown. She sold copies of the Webbs' Minority report on the Poor Law. She and her husband, Geoffrey Crawford Butt, bought

The Minories, Colchester The Minories is a Grade II listed building and gardens situated at the east end of High Street in Colchester, Essex, England, near Hollytrees, Gate House and Colchester Castle. It currently houses The Minories Galleries which are run by Colc ...

in 1915. She used the front rooms as her consulting rooms, and also opened Colchester's first infant nursery there. She sold the building and the garden to the Victor Batte-Lay Trust in 1956. She became an active member of the

Socialist Medical Association The Socialist Health Association (SHA, called the Socialist Medical Association before May 1981) is a socialist medical association based in the United Kingdom. It is affiliated to the Labour Party as a socialist society. History The Sociali ...

and organised a debate on "A State Medical Service" at the Colchester branch of the

British Medical Association The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association's headquar ...

in January 1932. She had three children, John, Barbara and

David Bensusan-Butt David Miles Bensusan-Butt (24 July 1914, Colchester – 25 March 1994, London) was an English economist who spent much of his career in Australia. Known as David, he published his work as D. M. Bensusan-Butt. Background and education A nephew ...

a prominent English economist. Barbara and David were twins A blue plaque in her memory was placed at The Minories in 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bensusan-Butt, Ruth British general practitioners 1877 births 1957 deaths 20th-century English medical doctors