Violetta Thurstan belongs to the medical record as a figure whose work changed what could be treated.
The record lists Violetta Thurstan as nurse and weaver.
Violetta Thurstan was born at Hastings in 1879. Her recorded nationality is United Kingdom. She trained at Ladies' College and The Royal London Hospital.
Anaesthesia, antisepsis and germ theory arrived within fifty years and made modern surgery possible for the first time.
Medicine advances against a moving target, and its successes are counted in lives rather than papers.
Recognition followed: Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, Military Medal, Order of St. Sava and Queen Elisabeth Medal.
That the work was done from United Kingdom matters: hospitals, training and research funding are unevenly distributed, and they decide which questions can be asked.
Violetta Thurstan died in 1978, aged 99. What survives is the change in practice, which is how a medical life is actually measured.
Achievements
- Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society
- Military Medal
- Order of St. Sava
- Queen Elisabeth Medal
