Due to health reasons, she closed her practice in 1939 and died on October 13, 1940. A commemorative plaque on the house at Na Moráni honors her, although it has an incorrect graduation date. By 1939, approximately twelve hundred women had graduated from medical school. Among scientific assistants from 1909 to 1939, women made up about fourteen percent, and by 1936, only two women had achieved the title of associate professor — both in the field of dermatology. Anna Honzáková was not among them. Today, the situation has turned completely upside down at first glance. While in Anna Honzáková’s time, women stood before closed doors, current medicine resembles an inverted funnel. Today, 65 to 66% of medical school graduates are women, and in regular practice, female doctors make up over 60% of all professionals. However, the higher you look into the management structures, the more women disappear. Among leading doctors and heads of departments, the proportion of women drops to 37%. Among the eight Czech medical faculties, there are eight deans — not a single one is a woman. A similar imbalance exists in academia: women make up only 15.7% of professors in Czech science, and in the management of universities or research institutions, women occupy only about 19% of positions. Anna Honzáková did not lead a university department, did not leave behind a named medical finding, nor did she manage a clinic. However, she had a practice whose waiting room was fuller than those of her colleagues, to whom the professorial body allowed an academic career. She paved the way for thousands of successors. The story of full recognition of female expertise and authority at the helm of healthcare continues even today. P.S.: Every day I bring a story about an overlooked female scientist. Help spread the #ZenyVeVede series – through reactions, comments, shares, or by following @tkapler, so you don't miss the next episode. What do you think about her legacy and the current imbalance of women in leadership? Isn't it time to change that? (translated)




