THE British Residence in Belgrade has been named Elsie Inglis House in honour of the pioneering Edinburgh doctor and her work in Serbia during the First World War.

Dr Inglis is regarded as a heroine in Serbia for her role in setting up much-needed hospital units at the height of the conflict and helping to save the lives of thousands of patients.

Dr Inglis (1864-1917), who studied medicine at Edinburgh University when it was still unusual for women to do so, had set up a women’s hospital in the Capital before the outbreak of war.

She defied advice from the British government and went over to the continent to set up female-staffed field hospitals close to the front line. Tens of thousands were helped by the hospitals she set up in Serbia, Ukraine and Romania, acting with the support of the French and Serbian governments.

She was also a strong advocate of women’s rights, and a leading member of the suffragette movement in Scotland.