Biography of Maria Alexandra Ratzer

Maria Alexandra Ratzer graduated MBChB from the University in 1953 and MD in 1961. She was born in 1914 in Marienbad, now Marianske Lazne in Czechoslovakia (modern day Czech Republic).

Ratzer commenced her medical studies at the German University in Prague in 1935. In 1938, Ratzer left Prague for Essex with her husband, John Ratzer, shortly before Hitler's troops entered the Sudetenland. It was her husband's work for the Czech shoe manufacturer Bata, that eventually brought them to Glasgow.

In 1948, Ratzer resumed her medical studies at the University of Glasgow, entering the second year. In session 1951-1952 she was awarded a first class certificate in Dermatology. Ratzer graduated MBChB in 1953 and obtained her MD in June 1961 with the thesis Acne Vulgaris. On the same day her son Peter Ratzer graduated in Economics from the University, and probably the first occasion when a mother and son graduated together from the University of Glasgow.

Following her studies, Ratzer was a dermatologist in the Southern General Hospital and the Western Infirmary in Glasgow. She became a consultant dermatologist in 1967 and ran clinics in Oban, Lochgilphead and Dumbartonshire. On retiring in 1979 she continued to work as a locum until around 1990, and moved to Montreal in 2000.

Summary

Maria Alexandra Ratzer
Born 21 December 1914.
Died 27 June 2007.
University Link: Alumnus, Graduate
GU Degrees: MBChB, 1953; Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, MD, 1961; Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences,
Occupation categories: dermatologists
Record last updated: 21st May 2013

University Connections

University Roles

• Alumnus
• Graduate

Images

Maria A Ratzer, MBChB 1953