L. Adele Cuinet

L. Adele Cuinet (November 29, 1855 – November 21, 1933) was a pioneer American dental surgeon, being the first woman dentist in Brooklyn, New York. Since childhood, she was a suffragist. She was of French parentage, her parents being L. Constant and Zenobia (Humbert) Cuinet.

Upon her decision to adopt dentistry as a profession, Cuinet realized that, in addition to the ordinary obstacles presented to youth and inexperience, she might also encounter the prejudice which confronts every woman who ventures upon a career considered at the time to be the exclusive province of men. She therefore determined to thoroughly equip herself. She completed the course at the Model School, Trenton, New Jersey, in 1881. She owned a four-story, 18 room brownstone in Brooklyn Heights with offices on the bottom floors, and her home on the upper ones. She was the author of various articles for newspapers and magazines.

In religion, Cuinet was Episcopalian. In the summer of 1925, she toured the U.S., the route being by way of Pittsburgh, Cleveland. Chicago, Milwaukee, Saint Paul, Minnesota; Yellowstone National Park, Spokane, and Portland, Oregon. On the return trip, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Cheyenne, Denver, Kansas City, Missouri, and St. Louis were on the itinerary. In 1930, Cuinet was in China talking about the opium problem and researching ways to curb it in the U.S.

Death and legacy L. Adele Cuinet died in Brooklyn, November 21, 1933. Burial was at that city's Green-Wood Cemetery.

The Cuinet Civic League, the civic association for Brooklyn Heights and Downtown Brooklyn, was named in her honor.