Marguerite Champendal

Marguerite Champendal (1870-1928) was a Swiss doctor and educator. She was the first woman from Geneva to obtain a doctorate in medicine at the University of Geneva. Champendal founded a center for distributing pasteurized milk for infants there, as well as an acclaimed nursing school.

Biography Champendal was born on 2 June 1870 in Petit-Saconnex, a neighborhood in Geneva, Switzerland. She was the third child of pastor Jacques Henri Samuel Champendal and Christine Elisabeth Roch. (While 34 other women also obtained a doctorate at the same time, none were from the city of Geneva.) Her doctoral thesis was titled, Des varices congénitales (Congenital varicose veins).

Medical practice After graduation, she practiced in the popular districts of the city. Champendal created her own center in Geneva (by the same name) in 1901. There she arranged for the distribution of pasteurized milk for infants and as well as consultation services to help young mothers. She directed the school until her early death in 1928. Champendal is remembered there as "a visionary and deeply modern woman."

She was a private doctor at the medical school from 1913 to 1919.

In 1918, Champendal earned professional status at the University of Geneva, the first woman to do so.