It was a simple letter asking for a place to study at Scotland's oldest university which helped start a revolution in higher education. A 140-year-old letter written by a lady calling for her to be allowed to study medicine at St Andrews University has been discovered by researchers. Written by Sophia Jex-Blake in 1873, the seven-page document, which urged the university to allow women to study medicine at the institution, was released yesterday on International Women's Day.
这是一封要求在苏格兰最古老大学学习的简单的信，开启了高等教育的革命。研究人员发现了一位女士140年前写的一封信，呼吁允许她在圣安德鲁斯大学学习医学。由索菲亚·杰克斯·布莱克于1873年撰写的这封长达七页，敦促大学允许女性在此学习医学的信件，于昨天国际妇女节发表。

The document was discovered buried in the university archives by part-time history student Lis Smith, who is completing her PhD at St Andrews Institute of Scottish Historical Research. She said: "We knew that Sophia Jex-Blake and her supporters, in their effort to open up university medical education for women, had written to the Senatus Academicus at St Andrews in an attempt to gain permission to attend classes there, but we didn't know documentary evidence existed. While searching the archives for information about the university's higher certificate for women, I was astonished to come across what must be the very letter Jex-Blake wrote."
这封信件是由在苏格兰圣安德鲁斯历史研究所完成博士学位的非全日制历史系学生利斯·史密斯在大学档案室发现的。她说：“我们知道，索菲亚·杰斯·布莱克和她的支持者在努力为女性开放大学医学教育的过程中，曾写信给圣安德鲁斯大学的校评议委员会，想获得在那里上课的许可，但我们不知道有书面证据。当我在档案中搜索有关大学女性高等证书的信息时，我惊讶地发现这一定是杰克斯·布莱克写的那封信。”

In the letter, Sophia and her supporters offered to hire teachers or build suitable buildings for a medical school and to arrange for lectures to be delivered in the subjects not already covered at St Andrews. Although her letter was not successful, it eventually led to the establishment of the Ladies Literate in Arts at St Andrews, a distance-learning degree for women. The qualification, which ran from 1877 until the 1930s, gave women access to university education in the days before they were admitted as students. It was so popular that it survived long after women were admitted as full students to St Andrews in 1892.
在信中，索菲亚和她的支持者提议为医学院聘请教师或建造合适的建筑，并为圣安德鲁斯尚未涵盖的科目安排讲座。尽管她的信并不成功，但最终还是促成了圣安德鲁斯女子文学学院的成立，这是一个面向女性的远程教育学位。该资格证书从1877年一直延续到1930年，在女性被录取之前，她们就可以接受大学教育。它如此受欢迎，以至于在1892年圣安德鲁斯大学允许录取女性为全日制学生后，仍存在了很长时间。

Ms Jex-Blake went on to help establish the London School of Medicine for Women in 1874. She was accepted by the University of Berne, where she was awarded a medical degree in January 1877. Eventually, she moved back to Edinburgh and opened her own practice.
杰克斯·布莱克女士于1874年帮助成立了伦敦女子医学院。她被伯尔尼大学录取，并于1877年1月获得医学学位。最后，她搬回爱丁堡，开设了自己的诊所。