About Josefa Zaratt
Lived 1871 – 1962 (aged 91). Josefa Zaratt was a physician.
Josefa Zaratt (also Zarratt) (March 19, 1871 – August 4, 1962) was the first Black woman to graduate from Tufts Medical School. She was one of the earliest Black women physicians in the United States.
Life Zaratt was born in 1871 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Zaratt studied at Tufts University School of Medicine, graduating in 1905. She then returned to Puerto Rico, but was denied a license to practice medicine there. She returned to the continental United States and passed the examination of the State Board of Registration in Medicine in Massachusetts. By 1923 she was practicing medicine in Springfield, Massachusetts and in 1932 she lived in Boston, Massachusetts.
Zaratt died on August 4, 1962, at Fordham Hospital in the Bronx, New York. aged 91. She was buried at Ferncliff Cemetery and Mausoleum in Greenburgh, New York.
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Important facts
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Josefa Zaratt's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Josefa Zaratt?
Puerto Rican physician
When was Josefa Zaratt born?
Josefa Zaratt was born on 19 March 1871 in San Juan.
When did Josefa Zaratt die?
Josefa Zaratt died on 4 August 1962 in Fordham Hospital.
What was Josefa Zaratt's occupation?
Josefa Zaratt was a physician.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Josefa Zaratt. https://biography.guide/josefa-zaratt/
MLA: "Josefa Zaratt." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/josefa-zaratt/.
Chicago: "Josefa Zaratt." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/josefa-zaratt/.
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