The first woman graduate in India and the first Indian woman physician to practise western medicine, Kadambini Ganguly was born on this day.
She was born Kadambini Basu and studied initially at Brahmo Eden Female School in Dhaka. She later studied at Hindu Mahila Vidyalaya, Ballygunge, Calcutta, an institution where her future husband Dwarkanath Ganguly, an influential campaigner for women’s education, was headmaster.
Kadambini and Chandramukhi Bose were the first woman Indian graduates, passing out from Calcutta University. With Dwarkanath firmly behind her, Kadambini obtained from Edinburgh her first medical degree that allowed her to practise. On her return, after obtaining other British medical degrees, she initially practised obstetrics and gynaecology at Lady Dufferin Hospital in Calcutta. Florence Nightingale had enquired about her.
Kadambini was one of the first women to attend a Congress session. She remained deeply committed to women’s issues and was part of a commission to enquire into the condition of women labourers in Bihar and Orissa. She worked till the very last, till her death at 62, and also raised a large family.
For her pathbreaking role, she had been severely criticised by conservative society, which also suggested she had loose morals. She and her husband had won a legal case against the person who had made such a remark.