Bertha Hosang Mah

Bertha Hosang Mah (November 18, 1896 – 1959) was a Canadian student, the first Chinese woman to graduate from a Canadian university.

Hosang was born in Lillooet, British Columbia,^[1][2] the daughter of Lena Hosang.^[3] Her older sister recalled, "We were the only Chinese family and there weren't any separate classes in the school, so we talked English all the time."^[4]

Hosang attended McGill University, first at the Vancouver satellite location (now the University of British Columbia), and later at the Montreal campus; when she graduated in 1917, she was described as "the first Chinese woman graduated from a Canadian university".^[5] At McGill, she won an award for best speech, from the Women's Literary Society (Delta Sigma).^[6] She also won first prize in a national essay competition, with her article "Physical Education for Chinese Women", which was later published in Chinese Students' Monthly.^[7]

Hosang was elected to the University Women's Club of Vancouver in 1918, and gave a presentation to the group that year, on "Chinese Literature".^[8] Hosang worked as a secretary at the Chinese consulate in Vancouver in 1918 and 1919.^[1] Her older sister Myrtle Hosang Lee studied economics at the University of California in Berkeley.^[9]

In May 1921, in Berkeley, California,^[3] Hosang married Dr. Ng Wing Mah,^[10] a Chinese-born political scientist who taught at the University of California. They had three children, Winberta, Bertwing, and Lynn.^[11][12] Bertha Hosang Mah died in 1959, aged 62 years.^[13]