Mary Poonen Lukose (2 August 1886 - 2 October 1976) was an Indian gynecologist, obstetrician and the first female Surgeon General in India.

[2] Mary Poonen was born to a rich Anglican Syrian Christian family as the only child[3][4] on 2 August 1886[5] in Aymanam—a small village later made famous by being the setting of the novel The God of Small Things—[6] in the princely state of Travancore (modern day Kerala), in the British Indian Empire.

As Indian universities did not offer admission to women for medicine, she moved to London and secured MBBS from the London University.She continued in the UK to obtain MRCOG (gynecology and obstetrics) from Rotunda Hospital, Dublin and underwent advanced training in pediatrics at the Great Ormond Street Hospital.

[7] She served as the Chief Commissioner of the Girl Guides in India[1][4] and was also a founder member of the Indian Medical Association and the Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI), which started as Obstetric and Gynaecological Society.

[18] They had two children, the eldest, Dr Grace Lukose (1919-1954), a medical doctor and assistant Professor of Surgery at Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi, who died in her mid 30s in an accident, trying to free a relation whose hair had become entangled in an electric fan.

[19] The youngest, son K. P. Lukose, grew up to become a consul general, permanent representative of India to the United Nations and the Indian ambassador to Bulgaria.

[7] She was a recipient of the title, Vaidyasasthrakusala, from Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma, the last Maharaja of Travancore.

[2] A biography Trailblazer – The Legendary Life and Times of Dr Mary Poonen Lukose, Surgeon General of Travancore edited by Leena Chandran was published in 2019.