A medical professional with training, Ada Priscilla Nzimiro was born in Oguta, in what is now Imo State, on April 30, 1923, and died on March 22, 1951. In 1950, she graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MB ChB) from the University of Glasgow. She was the first Igboland woman to earn a medical degree. According to reports, Nzimiro passed away in an unusual way a year after graduating. On April 30, 1923, Priscilla Nzimiro was born in Port Harcourt, the current capital of Rivers State. She was the daughter of Mary Nwametu Onumonu and Richard Nzimiro. Richard, Ifediora, and Nnamdi were her male step-siblings.
From 1956 until his passing in 1959, her father, a politician, was the first mayor of Port Harcourt. Her mother was a rich businessman who dealt in European manufactured products, salt, and palm oil. While attending St. Joseph’s Girls’ Convent in Asaba City for elementary education, Mary met Richard Nzimiro. Following her graduation, they were married in 1920. Ada Nzimiro began her academic career in 1945 as a medical student at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. She became the first woman from Igboland to earn a medical degree after graduating from MB ChB in 1950. Ada Nzimiro passed away at the age of 27 on March 22, 1951, at Glasgow Royal Infirmary.
Many people, including her parents, relatives, and well-wishers, were shocked to learn of her passing. According to later claims, she died of an unusual cause. She was laid to rest on April 27, 1951, at Oguta. The William Wilberforce Academy (WWA), the first of two secondary schools her parents founded in Oguta in 1945, was renamed Priscilla Memorial Grammar School following Nzimiro’s passing. This was done to honor her memory and document her accomplishments in the medical sector. Being the first female physician in her area, Nzimiro encouraged a lot of young women to pursue a career in medicine.
