Helen Carruthers Mackenzie
| Helen Carruthers Mackenzie | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Helen Spense 13 April, 1859 Dufftown |
| Died |
25 September, 1945 Edinburgh |
| Nationality | UK |
| Known for | work with women and children |
Dame Helen Carruthers Mackenzie (13 April, 1859 – 25 September, 1945) was a British educationist and public health campaigner.
Life
Mackenzie was born in Dufftown to William and Mary Spence in 1859. Her father was a tailor and provost. She was educated locally. She trained to be a teacher at the Church of Scotland Training College in Aberdeen and then she taught around Aberdeen until she married in 1892.
Helen and Dr Leslie Mackenzie devoted their lives primarily to health issues. Leslie was appointed to be the first medical inspector of schools.[1]
In 1902 they were tasked by the Royal Commission for Scotland to report on the health of school children in Edinburgh. Her husband examined the children but it was Helen who wrote and organised the study. They were able to show an inverse relationship between affluence and children's health. They successfully argued that teachers should be trained in health issues.[2]
In 1919 she was known as "Lady Leslie Mackenzie" when her husband became a knight. She was made a Dame in 1933,[3] two years before her husband died, for her work with women and children. In 1937 the University of Edinburgh made her a doctor of letters.
Mackenzie died in Edinburgh in 1945.[1]
References
- 1 2 Tom Begg, ‘Mackenzie , Dame Helen Carruthers (1859–1945)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 28 Dec 2016
- ↑ Ewan, Elizabeth L.; Innes, Sue; Reynolds, Sian; Pipes, Rose (2006-03-08). The Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 9780748626601.
- ↑ Gazette, 1933