Mavis Gilmour

Gilmour-Petersen was born on April 13, 1926 in St Elizabeth. She is the daughter of Isaac and Adelaide Holness. Gilmour-Petersen attended Blake's Tutorial College; Howard University in Washington DC, and the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.[1]

Gilmour-Petersen graduated from Howard University College of Medicine in 1951. She then served at a number of hospitals in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. In 1959 she embarked on her Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh. Upon completion, she was appointed Consultant Surgeon at the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH) and become the first woman surgeon in the Caribbean, serving the KPH from 1960 to 1976.[2][3]

Gilmour-Petersen entered elective politics in 1976 and won the St. Andrew West Rural constituency which she held until 1989. As a member of Edward Seaga's Cabinet, she served as minister of education from 1980 to 1986 when she was replaced by Neville Gallimore. She then served as minister of social security and consumer affairs from 1986 to 1989.[1]

• Gilmour-Petersen was awarded the Order of Distinction, Commander Class in 2004. [4]

• She was awarded Jamaica’s fourth-highest honour, the Order of Jamaica, in 2009.[5]

• List of Education Ministers of Jamaica
• Women in the House of Representatives of Jamaica
• List of female Members of the House of Representatives of Jamaica