Wendy Mitchinson

Who is Wendy Mitchinson?

Wendy Mitchinson is a Canadian historian at the University of Waterloo and a Canada Research Chair in Gender and Medical history.

Mitchinson trained at York University and quickly became a major figure in the field of Canadian women's history. With Ramsay Cook, she co-edited her first book "The Proper Sphere: Woman’s Place in Canadian Society", a collection of writing on the then new field of Canadian women's history. In 1988, she co-authored "Canadian Women: A History" the first textbook on Canadian women.

Later, she begin to focus on the history of medicine, particularly women's health, and wrote "The Nature of Their Bodies: Women and Their Doctors in Victorian Canada." Her most recent book, "Giving Birth in Canada: 1900-1950", examines the history of childbirth in a Canadian context. As Canada Research Chair, she is conducting research into the history of obesity in Canada.