Marie Thomas

Marie Thomas (17 February 1896 – 10 October 1966) was the first Indonesian woman to become a physician. She received her diploma from the School of Training of Native Physicians (STOVIA or School tot Opleiding van Indische Artsen) in 1922. She went on to specialize in obstetrics and gynaecology and is considered the first Indonesian doctor to specialize in this field. She also established a midwifery school in Bukittinggi. Biography Marie Thomas was born on 17 February 1896 in Likupang, which is located in the region of Minahasa in North Sulawesi. Her parents were Adriaan Thomas and Nicolina Maramis. Her father had a career in the military, which required the family to constantly move to different locations in Indonesia. This, however, allowed Thomas to attend various schools from Sulawesi to Java. STOVIA did not initially accept women, but the policy changed due in part to the efforts of Aletta Jacobs (the first female physician in the Netherlands). When Jacobs visited Indonesia (or the Dutch East Indies at the time) in 1911, she pressed the issue with then Governor-General A.W.F. Idenburg. After women were allowed to enroll, a further hurdle existed where they could not be employed by Civil Medical Service (Burgerlijke geneeskundige dienst) and therefore had to pay for their studies at STOVIA. In this case, it was Aletta's sister, Charlotte Jacobs (the first female to obtain a degree in pharmacology in the Netherlands), who helped establish a foundation to raise funds for female students attending STOVIA. The foundation was established on 1 September 1912 with the help of Marie van Zeggelen and Elisabeth van Deventer. The foundation that they formed was the Society to Form a Study Fund for Training Female Native Doctors (SOVIA or Vereeniging tot Vorming van een Studiefonds voor Opleiding van Vrouwelijke Inlandsche Artsen). Thomas entered STOVIA in September 1912 and was supported by the SOVIA foundation. At the time of her enrollment, Marie was the only female student among around 200 male students. It was not until two years later did the school accept a second female student by the name of Anna Warouw who was also from the region of Minahasa. Marie Thomas completed her studies at STOVIA in 1922 and was acknowledged as the first female graduate of STOVIA. She then started her medical practice at the main hospital in Batavia (now Jakarta) called Centrale Burgerlijke Ziekeninrichting (CBZ) (now Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital).