Portrait of Peter Parker
Peter Parker(1804-1888)was the first medical missionary from the U.S.to reach China.The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions sent him there in 1 834.He opened an ophthalmic dispensary in Canton in 1 835 and the Canton Hospital(forerunner of Guangzhou’s Boji Hospital) in 1836.In 1838 he was an organizer of the Medical Missionary Society in China,and served as its Vice President.Parker later gave up his missionary status to serve as U.S.Charged affairs,returning to his country in 1 857.