Rașkovici Maria

About

Maria Rașkovici was one of the first female doctors in the Russian Empire, of Jewish origin, and a personality with scientific and social concerns, closely linked to the Chișinău area. Born in 1859 in Odesa, she studied medicine in Saint Petersburg and then in Bern, and after graduating, she continued her training in Russia, in a context where women's access to the medical profession was still difficult. Later, she settled in Chișinău, where she carried out medical activity and conducted research in the field of hygiene. In her career, Maria Rașkovici worked in several medical institutions, including hospitals in Krasnograd and an orphanage in Kherson, before consolidating her activity in Chișinău. She taught at the Jewish Vocational School for Girls in Chișinău and was involved in educational and charitable actions, which shows that she understood her role as a doctor in a broad sense, as support for the health and education of the community. Through her work, she belongs to the generation of women doctors who contributed to the professionalization of medicine and the opening of this field to women in the region. Little is known publicly about her personal life: her father, Florian, was a merchant, and her Jewish origin probably influenced the social and community path she followed. During World War II, she was imprisoned in the Chișinău Ghetto, where she died in 1941, becoming one of the many victims of the Holocaust in Bessarabia. Her figure remains important for the history of medicine in the Republic of Moldova, especially through the example of a woman who combined medical practice, education, and philanthropy.