Rita Lobato Velho Lopes (June 7, 1866, in Rio Grande – January 6, 1954, in Rio Pardo) was the first woman to earn a degree in Brazil to practice medicine.[1] She was the second Brazilian woman physician, following Maria Augusta Generoso Estrela, who earned a degree from the New York Medical College and Hospital for Women in 1881.[2] Lobato received her degree in 1887 from a school in Bahia. Her initial enrollment caused debate, with some people arguing that women had brains too small to understand medicine or that a female doctor would never find a husband, although others were in favor of her entrance and the Echo das Damas [3] saw her as an example for Brazilian girls. She did, in fact, marry and practised medicine for several years.[4]
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