Representative women of New England/Marie Elizabeth Zakrzewska
MARIE ELIZABETH ZAKRZEWSKA, M.D., was born in Berlin, Prussia, September 6, 1829. On her father's side she was descended from a very old Polish family, which fled from Poland in 1793, when their estates had been confiscated on account of their liberal principles. Her mother's family can be traced back to the eighteenth century. Her great-grandmother, Marie Elizabeth Sauer, was a gypsy queen of the Lombardi tribe. She married a Captain Urban, also a member of that tribe. They had nine children, Marie's grandmother being the fifth in order of birth. Marie was the eldest of a family of five children. The father held a government position, but, having offended his superiors by the expression of revolutionary sentiments, he was similarly retired upon a very small pension, in consequence of which his family was reduced to poverty. In order to provide for their support, Madame Zakrzewska entered the school of midwifery in Berlin, and later practised the profession with great success. During a portion of the time of her mother's hospital training, Marie was permitted to reside with her in the hospital. Here she became a great favorite of one of the physicians. At her request he lent her two books, "The History of Midwifery" and "The History of Surgery." These she read through in six weeks, and, according to her own account, dated from this time her interest in the study of medicine. She was then about eleven years old.
Upon leaving the hospital she returned to school, which she quitted at the age of thirteen and a half, and at once entered upon the usual training of a German girl in housewifery. She soon tired of this, and did not gain credit for good work in her family, although the experience served her in later life by enabling her to become a notable housekeeper.
As her mother's practice increased, she began to assist her in the care of her patients. She found this so much to her taste, that she decided to study the profession. Aft«r various delays, caused by her youth and her father's opposition, she was admitted to the Charite as a special pupil of the director, Dr. Joseph Herman Schmidt, who took the greatest interest in her development, and, seeing her remarkable ability, determined to fit her for the post of chief of the school for mid-wives, a position which had never been held by a woman.
She was graduated with honor, and received the appointment. Unfortunately, Dr. Schmidt died immediately after, and she was left without his aid, in a position which was coveted by many, who were consequently unfriendly to her. Finding it impossible to maintain this position without losing her self-respect, she soon resigned. Her friends were desirous that she should settle in Berlin, but she had meanwhile conceived of a hospital for women, attended by women; and, although she dared not tell any one of so wild a project, she determined not to be satisfied until it was fulfilled. Knowing this to be impossible in Berlin, she turned her thoughts toward America, as a place where she might be free to carry out her intentions without the limitations surrounding her in the Old World. On March 15, 1853, accompanied by one of her sisters, she left Berlin, and after a tem- pestuous voyage landed in New York on the 22d of May. Coming without friends, and entirely ignorant of the English language, it is not wonderful that she at first found no encouragement for her project.
She had determined on no account to ask help from her father, and therefore, when she found that there was no immediate prospect of earning her living by practicing her profession, she turned her practical ability into other channels, and for a time supported herself and her sister by manufacturing worsted goods and other articles.
Although she was quite successful in these ventures, she never forgot her real object in life. Her introduction to Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, which occurred about a year after her arrival in this country, she rightly considered the turning-point of her fortune in America. Dr. Blackwell at once discerned the uncommon qualities of the stranger, inspite of the foreign language, and interested herself most heartily in her behalf. She told her that she must learn the English language, and obtain the degree of Doctor of Medicine from a reputable college before she could hope to practise successfully. Through Dr. Blackwell's influence she was admitted to the Cleveland Medical College, where she was graduated in 1856. After her graduation the faculty, as a mark of respect for her character and abilities, remitted her lecture fees, for which she had been obliged, for lack of ready money, to give her promissory note. She returned to New York, and took an office with Dr. Blackwell, who had opened a small dispensary for women and children, and was trying to collect funds for the establishment of a small hospital in connection with it. Into this project Dr. Zakrzewska entered with heart and soul, and by her contagious enthusiasm aided greatly in accomplishing it. In May, 1857, the New York Infirmary was opened. For two years she gave her time to it gratuitously, acting both as superintendent and resident physician. During these years she had several times visited Boston in the interests of the New York work, and thus become acquainted with a circle of noble men and women who were ready to lend a hand to any good object. In the spring of 1859 she was asked to take charge of a small hospital connected with the New England Female Medical College of that city.
Feeling that the New York hospital was now well started, and that she might advance the cause of women physicians more in another place, she accepted the invitation, and came to Boston in June. She did not find there, however, the chance for carrying on her own ideas of hospital management, and at the end of three years she resigned. Her friends now decided to hire a small house and fit it up as a hospital, which should be under her management. It was a courageous undertaking. It was in 1862. The civil war was at its height, and it was very difficult to enlist public interest in anything else. Few people knew anything about women physicians, and the majority of those who had heard of them, regarded the idea of women doctors with a mixture of incredulity and suspicion.
Dr. Zakrzewska, however, possessed in a high degree, the power of interesting others in whatever she undertook, and she soon gathered about her an enthusiastic group of people, who were devoted to her and her work, and who believed firmly that whatever she undertook would be accomplished. The hospital struggled on, feebly at first, but soon began to grow, and, after several times enlarging its quarters, was enabled in 1872 to build its present substantial structure in Roxbury. Other buildings have gradually been added, until the institution now includes medical, surgical, maternity, and dispensary buildings, together with a nurses' home and all the accessories of a well-appointed modern hospital.
The hospital staff, which at first consisted of Dr. Zakrzewska and a young assistant, in 1893 numbered over forty women physicians connected with its work; and Dr. Zakrzewska lived to .see all this accomplished. She held successively the post of resident physician, senior attending physician, and senior advisory physician, which last she retained until her death. As one of the chief objects of the hospital, as set forth in its charter, is the giving of opportunities for practical work to young women doctors, a large number of them have gained their hospital experience in its wards under her instruction. She always took the greatest interest in these students, giving them freely of her great experience, and encouraging them in their anxieties at the beginning of their career. All over this country, and even in Europe, are practicing women doctors, who will always look back gratefully to the advice she gave them, and the things she taught them in the hospital.
Her hospital work did not absorb the whole of her time. She gradually acquired a large private practice in Boston and vicinity, and she was well known among rich and poor for her medical skill, her wise practical advice, and her interest in every class of humanity, and especially in any questions relating to the advancement of opportunities for women.
She was one of the early members of the New England Woman's Club of Boston, and always took the greatest interest in its work. She was thoroughly alive to all the burning social questions of the times, and often contributed, either by papers or talks, to the practical solution of such questions.
She continued the active practice of medicine until 1899, when she felt herself no longer able to bear the strain. With her dear friend and companion, Miss Julia A. Wprague, she retired to a small house in the neighborhood of Boston, where she hoped to enjoy some years of leisure after her strenuous toil. She found, however, that she hail overtasked her splendid physical powers, and during the rest of her life she suffered greatly from a nervous trouble, which made it impossible for her to lead anything but an absolutely quid existence. Exhausted by this trouble, she died on May 13, 1902.
By her own request there was no funeral service, but relations and friends gathered quietly, to hear a paper which she had herself prepared for the occasion.
On October 29, 1902, a memorial service was held for her in Chickering Hall, where a notable company, including Mrs. Julia Ward Howe, Mrs. Ednah D. Cheney, Mrs. Mary A. Livermore, and Mr. William Lloyd Garrison, Jr., sought to express their appreciation of her. Some of her associates in the hospital spoke of her hospital and medical work, while a German Quartet sang selections from the music she loved.
The meeting was closed by the following benediction from Mrs. Howe: "I pray God earnestly that we may never go back from the ground which our noble pioneers and leaders have gained for us. I pray that these bright stars of merit, set in our firmament, may guide us to a truer love and service to God and man."