104:(Foster, 1911) developed in Cajal’s laboratory that was written completely in Spanish language. On the front page of this publication, she writes a brief introduction in Spanish: “by indication of professor Cajal, in whose laboratory I had the honour to work during some months”. Laura Forster declares that Santiago Ramón y Cajal suggested she focused her research in the lab on whether the degeneration of nerve fibers after traumatic lesion of the spinal cord in birds corresponded with events observed in previous studies on mammals performed by Cajal himself and others. Forster’s study was the first time that neurofibrillary techniques were applied to birds for this purpose and her results demonstrated similarities with the process in mammals, although these occurred more rapidly in birds. This paper, elegantly illustrated, is dated August 1911 and was the longest of her scientific papers to date. She expresses “cordial thanks to Dr. Cajal for his amicable advice, as well as to Drs N. Achúcarro and F. Tello for the generous help that they gave me while performing this work” (Forster, 1911). Afterwards, Cajal cited the work carried out by Laura Forster’s in his laboratory at least three times. She can be considered as a
139:'s largest hospital, where she was the first Australian or British female surgeon to perform surgery. She remained at the hospital for several months before joining the Russian Red Cross to serve in the Caucasus. From there, she went to Erzurum, Turkey, where she supervised a field hospital. Through the Caucasian Committee of the All-Russian Union of Towns, which operated 11 medical-related facilities, Forster managed a 150-bed infectious diseases hospital. The facility treated Typhus, which took by the end of the summer of 1916 an estimated 70 percent of the 40,000 infected refugees, soldiers and residents of the city. In September 1916 she joined a hospital unit financed by the
91:. She was also licensed by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, Glasgow; Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh; and Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh. In 1900 she was appointed medical officer of the Cutler Boulter Dispensary in Oxford. While at Cutler Boulter, she was interested in determining the causes and effects of ovarian diseases in mentally ill women. At the Claybury Asylum pathology laboratory in London, she performed autopsies on about 100 deceased women received from London and Charing Cross hospitals. In 1907, she published a research paper on the histology of tubercular human lymphatic glands under the supervision of Dr. Gustav Mann.
135:. She was the first Australian female doctor to travel to Belgium to assist in the wartime medical effort, at a time women doctors were not allowed to enlist in the Allied Medical Corps. When Belgium came under German bombardment in September and October 1914, Forster and her colleagues evacuated Belgian and British soldiers under heavy fire. Following the devastating bombing by German aircraft, she went to France, where she assisted Belgians who had been wounded in the German bombardment. She then relocated to Russia and volunteered in the surgical department of
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typhoid, scarlet fever, dysentery and for farming accidents involving heavy equipment. In addition to civilians, the staff treated wounded
Russian soldiers return from the front just 30 miles away. In December 1916, Forster transferred to the unit's 80-bed Fifty-Second Epidemic Hospital, in Zalishchyky, Galicia. She joined Dr. Helena Hall to replace
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At
Zalishchyky, the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies operated the Millicent Fawcett Hospital Units, named for the famed suffragette in England. The Zalishchyky unit was one of five hospitals in the Galicia region. The doctor and nursing staff treated thousands of civilian refugees for
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was beginning to be a prestigious and recognized scientist internationally in the world of
Neurohistology, thanks to the international awards that he received between 1900 and 1906, including the Nobel Prize (1906). In 1911, under Cajal supervision, Forster published her third scientific paper
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during 1859–1860, and his wife Eliza Jane Wall (1828-1862). Laura was the fifth of six children from this marriage. Eliza died in 1862 and
William married Maud Julia Edwards (1846-1893). With Maud, William had five children, including three sons who were killed in World War I while with the
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Australian
Imperial Force. Shortly after William Forster's death in 1882, Laura accompanied her stepmother and half sister, Enid, to England. Maud eventually married John Burn Murdoch, of Edinburgh, and a captain in the Royal Engineers. Laura remained in England.
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The influence of Gustav Mann (experienced in histological staining) together with her interest to gain a greater command of neurohistological techniques prompted Laura
Forster to spend a few months between 1910 and 1911 at the Cajal´s laboratory (since 1920,
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At 58 years old, the 20-hour days, constant bombardment and huge influx of the sick and wounded took a toll on
Forster as she often looked exhausted and thin. She died on 11 February 1917 in Zalishchyky, from
159:, who was returning to England to raise more funds for the operation. The medical facility was attached to the Russian Ninth Army but later transferred to the Seventh Army under General Aleksei Brusilov.
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University she studied 12 semesters at the
Pathological Institute researching muscle spindle fibers. She graduated in 1894 and was certified to practice medicine in the United Kingdom the following year.
176:. She was buried in Zalishchyky with Russian rites, which included burial in an open coffin and Russian Orthodox Church icons. Nurses from the hospital that Forster ran placed a homemade
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flag over her body. Dr. Frederick Mott published
Forster’s Claybury Asylum pathology laboratory findings posthumously in 1917.
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After completing dual training as both a doctor and a nurse, Forster settled in
England and practiced medicine in
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GinĂ©, Elena; MartĂnez, Carmen; Sanz, Carmen; Nombela, Cristina; De Castro, Fernando (2019).
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Forster attended Sydney schools through about 1879. On 1 November 1887 Forster entered the
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to work as a nurse because women were not permitted to work as physicians at the front.
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Forster, Laura (1911). "La degeneraciĂłn traumatica en la medula espinal de las aves".
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she began working for the British Red Cross at Belgian Field Hospital in
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noted for her service in France, Belgium, Turkey and Russia during
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Estudios Sobre la DegeneraciĂłn y RegeneraciĂłn del sistema nerviosa
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Estudios Sobre la DegeneraciĂłn y RegeneraciĂłn del sistema nervioso
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377:"The forgotten Australian women doctors of the Great War"
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Laura Elizabeth Forster was born in the Sydney suburb of
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Australian nurse, physician and surgeon (1858–1917)
231:"The Women Neuroscientists in the Cajal School"
62:(1818-1882), a landowner, poet, politician and
613:20th-century Australian women medical doctors
23:Laura E. Forster at the age of 21 in Germany.
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303:. Madrid: Imprenta de Hijos de Nicolás Moya.
141:National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies
99:) located in Madrid (Spain). At that time,
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74:in Switzerland, as a medical student. At
618:20th-century Australian medical doctors
529:Wagner, Rob Leicester (December 2017).
495:Wagner, Rob Leicester (December 2017).
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333:. Imprenta de Hijos de Nicolás Moya.
318:. Imprenta de Hijos de Nicolás Moya.
172:following a week-long illness with
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448:"Medical women at war, 1914–1918"
375:Sheard, Heather (17 March 2015).
663:Colony of New South Wales people
648:Australian women neuroscientists
329:RamĂłn y Cajal, Santiago (1917).
314:RamĂłn y Cajal, Santiago (1914).
299:RamĂłn y Cajal, Santiago (1913).
111:In 1912, at the outbreak of the
628:Australian women of World War I
418:Australian National University
30:(1858–1917) was an Australian
1:
407:"Martha's Family Connections"
678:Nurses killed in World War I
633:Female nurses in World War I
531:"Dr Laura Elizabeth Forster"
497:"Dr Laura Elizabeth Forster"
348:"Forster, Laura (1858–1917)"
202:"Forster, Laura (1858–1917)"
106:pioneer woman Neuroscientist
643:Medical doctors from Sydney
608:Australian military doctors
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653:Australian neuroscientists
573:(59): 269. 27 October 1917
571:British Journal of Nursing
157:Dr. Kate King May-Atkinson
101:Dr. Santiago RamĂłn y Cajal
64:Premier of New South Wales
683:Australian women surgeons
658:University of Bern alumni
464:10.1017/s0025727300059081
353:The Sydney Morning Herald
207:The Sydney Morning Herald
127:In September 1914 during
356:. 5 July 1917. p. 6
248:10.3389/fnana.2019.00072
210:. 16 May 1917. p. 7
50:Early life and education
282:Trab. Lab. Invest. Biol
28:Laura Elizabeth Forster
446:Leneman, Leah (1994).
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564:"Care of the wounded"
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331:Recuerdos de mi Vida
623:Australian surgeons
414:Biography Footnotes
115:, she travelled to
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72:University of Bern
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603:1917 deaths
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145:Zalishchyky
129:World War I
123:War service
58:in 1858 to
44:World War I
592:Categories
548:5 February
538:Sabretache
514:5 February
504:Sabretache
288:: 255–268.
184:References
178:Union Jack
426:1838-6377
174:influenza
137:Petrograd
267:31379519
482:8007751
473:1036842
258:6646472
149:Galicia
133:Antwerp
36:surgeon
577:16 May
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431:16 May
424:
416:(13).
388:23 May
360:16 May
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241:: 72.
214:16 May
117:Epirus
89:Oxford
83:Career
567:(PDF)
542:LVIII
534:(PDF)
508:LVIII
500:(PDF)
410:(PDF)
163:Death
40:nurse
579:2015
550:2018
516:2018
478:PMID
433:2015
422:ISSN
390:2015
362:2015
263:PMID
216:2015
76:Bern
56:Ryde
38:and
468:PMC
460:doi
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243:doi
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
