Renowned physician and wife of former Malaysian prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Dr Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali, died at the age of 100 on Monday (Sept 28).

She died at the National Heart Institute, state news agency Bernama said, citing the couple's son Mokhzani Mahathir. 

Born in 1926, Siti Hasmah was among Malaysia’s earliest Malay women doctors and went on to build a long career in medicine, public health and social work.

After joining the Health Ministry, she served as a medical officer in several parts of the country, with much of her work focused on public health and maternal and child healthcare.

Often credited with modernising Malaysia, Mahathir, 101, served two stints as premier, totalling more than two decades. During his first tenure between 1981 and 2003, he oversaw a period of rapid industrial growth, turning Malaysia into one of Southeast Asia's economic tigers.

Mahathir met Siti Hasmah while they were both attending medical school in Singapore in the late 1940s. The couple, who celebrated 70 years of marriage in August, raised seven children, including businessman Mokhzani, social activist Marina Mahathir, and politician Mukhriz Mahathir.

A popular figure in her own right, Siti Hasmah was known for her unassuming personality and good humour, which contrasted with her husband's blunt and acerbic style.

Mahathir once described her as the backbone to his success, and said he admired her determination to obtain a university degree, a rarity among ethnic Malay women at the time.

"That, I think, reflects her strength of character," he told CNN in 2018.