Mary de Sousa

Mary Mathilda de Sousa, Pereira (1890–1953) was an Indian-Kenyan doctor. She was the first Asian female doctor in Kenya, practicing from 1919.

Life Mary Mathilda Pereira was raised in Mazagon, Bombay, one of fourteen children of Peter Paul Pereira. She graduated from Grant Medical College in 1914 as a Licentiate in Medicine and Surgery. She worked as a medical officer in the Bhavnagar district and Chhota Udaipur district before returning to Bombay to work at the Kerrawala Maternity Hospital. In 1919 attended the Lahore session of the Indian National Congress. She and her husband refused a place on the board of governors, since the hospital's constitution did not provide for balanced representation of Indians and Europeans on the committee. She was also involved in the Indian Education Board, and in the Girl Guides and Boy Scouts.