Maria Dmitrievna Kovrigina (Russian: Мария Дмитриевна Ковригина; 6 July 1910 – 12 March 1995) was a Russian physician who served as the minister of health between 1953 and 1959 and was the first woman appointed to head a ministry at the All-Union level.

[3] Following her graduation Kovrigina began to work in Chelyabinsk and then was made the chief of staff of the regional department of health and education there.

[4] When she was in office she managed to pass a law which lifted the prohibition of abortion in 1955.

[5] Then Kovrigina served as the director of the department of pathology at the Moscow Central Postgraduate Medical School.

[2] Kovrigina was awarded a medal for her activities in the siege of Leningrad during World War II.