Kakish Ryskulova

Kakish Ryskulova, (; 5 October 1918 – 26 August 2018) was a Kyrgyz medical doctor and politician, who was an Academician of the Kyrgyz Academy of Sciences. She was the first Central Asian and first Kyrgyz woman to become a surgeon.

Biography Ryskulova was born on 15 October 1918 in the village of Chetindi, Ysyk-Ata district, Chuy oblast. An orphan by the age of ten, her uncle, Ishenali Arabaev, encouraged her to apply to go to boarding school; it was her uncle who also encouraged her to eventually apply to go to medical college. She began to study nursing at Frunze Medical School in 1936. After she left the medical school she worked as a paramedic in Batken, and as a nurse in Naryn. Study there enabled her to move to graduate school, where she was the first woman from central Asia to become a surgeon.

In 1951, she graduated with a DPhil in Medicine. Through her research she developed a new technique for repairing veins and arteries and continued to specialise in vascular medicine, as well as working in a variety of other disciplines. The Department of Surgery at the Kyrgyz State Medical Academy is named after Ryskulova, in honour of her achievements. Academician of the Kyrgyz Academy of Sciences. Order of Lenin. Order of Dank. Order of Manas. Order of the Badge of Honour x2 Medal "For Labour Valour"

Personal life Ryskulova was married to Omorkul Suleymanov. They had two daughters, and also adopted two of her nephews. All are doctors, apart from her daughter Anara Suleymanova, who was a professional ballerina.

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