Agnes Yewande Savage

Agnes Yewande Savage (21 February 1906 – 7 September 1964) was a Nigerian–Scottish medical doctor and the first West African woman to train and qualify in orthodox medicine. Savage was the first West African woman to receive a university degree in medicine, graduating with first-class honours from the University of Edinburgh in 1929 at the age of 23. She excelled in her studies. In her fourth year of medical school, she earned first-class honours in all subjects, won a prize in Diseases of the Skin and a medal in Forensic Medicine, making her the first woman in the history of Edinburgh to do so. She was awarded the Dorothy Gilfillan Memorial Prize as the best woman graduate in 1929, and later went on to also study medicine at the University of Edinburgh, becoming Ghana's first female medical doctor. Another West African woman, a medical pioneer, who studied at both Achimota and Edinburgh was Matilda J. Clerk, who became the first Ghanaian woman to win a university merit scholarship, the second female doctor in Ghana and the fourth West African woman to train as a physician. Her residence was in Frithsden Copse, and she lived with her friend Esther Appleyard (who had been the Chief Education Officer in Ghana).

Other facts A Nigerian author by the name of Emeka 'Ed' Keazor who wrote the book 120 Great Nigerians You Never Knew mentions that Agnes "'left one of the greatest legacies for Nigerian women by becoming the first Nigerian female to graduate as a medical doctor. Thousands have followed in her footsteps, but her outstanding academic achievements, her pedigree, and the quality of her work stand out'.