Jennie Smillie Robertson

Jennie Smillie Robertson

Jennie Robertson (February 10, 1878 – February 26, 1981) was a Canadian physician and the first female surgeon in Canada.

Born as Jane Smillie in Hensall, Ontario, she was the fourth child of Benjamin Smillie (1839–1886) and his wife, Jane Smillie (née Buchanan) (1849–1906). The family farm was in the Huron Tract on lot 10, concession 1, in the township of Tuckersmith, one mile north of what is now Hensall, Ontario. She initially became a teacher. She started saving so that she could attend Kingston’s Ontario Medical College for Women (which was absorbed into the University of Toronto’s medical school in 1906).

She graduated in 1909 but no hospital in Toronto would take her for her residency so she had to attend Philadelphia's Women's Medical College. In 1911, she returned to Canada and was the first woman in Canada to perform surgery. She was also the first woman to do major gynecological surgery in Canada.