Anandibai Joshi, India's first woman allopathic doctor got her M.D. from Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania, USA in 1886
The text below is from my Facebook post share of US Embassy India's Facebook post: https://www.facebook.com/India.usembassy/posts/2574902935959053
Utterly fascinating! I have to admit that I did not know of this. Thank to US Embassy India for sharing. Wonderful to know about the goodness and nobility of Late Mrs. Theodicia Carpenter of New Jersey, USA who took an interest in making the Indian lady an allopathic doctor!
Some info. about Anandibai Gopalrao Joshi from her wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anandi_Gopal_Joshi, along with my comments prefixed by Ravi:
* Anandibai Gopalrao Joshi (birth:1865, death: 1887) was born, raised and married (at age of nine) in Kalyan (Thane district, Maharashtra state). [Ravi: During the years I lived in Dombivli (1980 to around 1990 with around 3 years spent on foreign trips, and then from around 1993-94 to 2002), I have visited Kalyan umpteen times. It is just around 10 minutes by train, and perhaps half an hour or so by road, from Dombivli. Kalyan is a major railway junction with most, if not all, express trains passing on its line, having a stop there. Kalyan has a history as a noted city going back a few centuries at least.
I am fascinated to know that the first female allopathic doctor of India hails from Kalyan! She is mentioned in the Kalyan wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalyan. This wiki page states that Joshi is believed to be the first Hindu woman to set foot on American (USA) soil! Hmm. That's very interesting!]
* Her husband Gopal Rao Joshi initially worked as a postal clerk in Kalyan. Her husband was very particular that Anandibai study rather than do household chores like cooking.
* At the age of 14 years, Anandibai gave birth to a boy who lived only for ten days. Anandibai decided to become a medical doctor.
* The couple moved to Calcutta. There Anandibai learned to read and speak English and Sanskrit.
* In 1880, her husband wrote to an American missionary, Royal Wilder, about his wife's desire to study to be a medical doctor, and also his desire to seek a job in America. Wilder published this correspondence in Princeton's Missionary Review. Theodicia Carpenter of Roselle, New Jersey, read this when she was waiting to see her dentist. Theodicia Carpenter wrote to Anandibai.
* Anandibai had health problems. Carpenter sent her medicines from America but that did not help.
* In 1883, Gopal Rao Joshi was transferred to Serampore. He decided to send Anandibai to USA under the care of (chaperoned by) two missionary ladies.
* A physician (medical doctor) couple in USA, the Thorborns, suggested that Anandibai should apply to Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drexel_University_College_of_Medicine (now known as Drexel University College of Medicine). There is another wiki page for it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woman%27s_Medical_College_of_Pennsylvania, which says that it was founded in 1850 and was the second medical institution in the world to train women to earn M.D. degrees (become medical doctors). The first one seems to be the New England Female Medical College, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_England_Female_Medical_College, founded in 1848 (merged in 1874 with Boston University School of Medicine).
[Ravi: Oh! So women could become (allopathic) medical doctors only from 1848 onwards and the first such women's medical schools (not just nursing schools) were in USA and NOT Europe. That is rather surprising. I would have thought UK or France or some such European country would have had the first women's medical college.]
* Orthodox Hindu community were very critical of Anandibai's plans to go to the West. Anandibai and her husband were from the Brahmin community. [Ravi: If I recall correctly, I have read that in those days, Hindu Brahmins were prohibited by their community elders to travel by sea to foreign countries (e.g. Western world) and were threatened with excommunication from the community if they did so.]
* Anandibai addressed the community in a hall in Serampore. She argued that Hindu women medical doctors (physicians) would be able to serve Hindu women. After her speech, she received financial contributions for her trip from all over India.
* Anandibai travelled to New York from Calcutta, reaching New York in June 1883 where she was received by Theodicia Carpenter. She was looked after during her voyage by two female English missionary acquaintances of the Thorborns.
* The Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania admitted Anandibai to their medical progam. Anandibai was 19 years old at that time. Her health worsened in America. She contracted Tuberculosis. But she graduated with an M.D. in March 1886. Her thesis was titled, "Obstetrics among the Aryan Hindoos." The thesis used references from Ayurvedic texts as well as American medical textbooks. Queen Victoria sent Anandibai a congratulatory message on her graduation.
* Anandibai returned to India in late 1886. She was appointed physician-in-charge of the female ward of Albert Edward Hospital in Kolhapur by the princely state of Kolhapur.
* Anandibai died of tuberculosis on 26th Feb. 1887. She had not yet turned 22 years of age.
* Her ashes were sent to Theodicia Carpenter who placed them in her family cemetry at Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetry in Poughkeepsie, New York. https://wpdh.com/crater-on-venus-named-after-woman-buried-in-poughkeepsie/ shows two pics of the tombstone of Anandibai in Poughkeepsie, New York. The inscription reads:
ANANDABAI
JOSHEE M.D.
1865 - 1887
FIRST BRAHMIN WOMAN
TO LEAVE INDIA TO OBTAIN
AN EDUCATION
--- end of tombstone text ---
[Ravi: The inscription implies that Brahmin women in India did not get education in that period (1880s). That implication is inaccurate as India does boast of Hindu women in the past who were very well educated and knowledgeable. But it may be true that most Brahmin women of the 1880s may not have received education like Brahmin men received.
And it certainly may be true that Anandibai Gopalrao Joshi was the first Hindu woman who travelled outside India to obtain an education (medical education in this case).]
==========
Fascinating story! And to put it in context of current age, I would like to say that my elder sister (elder to me by 10 years) got her M.B.B.S. (physician/medical doctor) degree in the 1970s in Bombay (Nair hospital, TNMC). She was the first woman in the extended family to be a medical doctor. A male cousin also become a doctor around that time. I think these two persons were the first medical doctors in our extended family. Note that most of the earlier generation of our family had been raised in Kerala, and in what seems to have been comparatively financially challenging situations. Whereas my generation were raised in Bombay with most of the family men having a regular salaried job, and most of us were born after India's independence in 1947. So my generation benefited a lot in terms of access to better quality education as well as higher education, as compared to previous generations of my extended family.
My sister became an allopathic medical doctor studying in Bombay, India in 1970s, close to but less than 100 years after Anandibai Gopalrao Joshi became India's first female allopathic medical doctor in 1886 graduating from medical school in Pennsylvania, USA. Hmm. That's some food for thought, in terms of extraordinary progress made in India in terms of women's education, in the past century or two.
[I thank wikipedia and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above references from their website on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]
Utterly fascinating! I have to admit that I did not know of this. Thank to US Embassy India for sharing. Wonderful to know about the goodness and nobility of Late Mrs. Theodicia Carpenter of New Jersey, USA who took an interest in making the Indian lady an allopathic doctor!
Some info. about Anandibai Gopalrao Joshi from her wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anandi_Gopal_Joshi, along with my comments prefixed by Ravi:
* Anandibai Gopalrao Joshi (birth:1865, death: 1887) was born, raised and married (at age of nine) in Kalyan (Thane district, Maharashtra state). [Ravi: During the years I lived in Dombivli (1980 to around 1990 with around 3 years spent on foreign trips, and then from around 1993-94 to 2002), I have visited Kalyan umpteen times. It is just around 10 minutes by train, and perhaps half an hour or so by road, from Dombivli. Kalyan is a major railway junction with most, if not all, express trains passing on its line, having a stop there. Kalyan has a history as a noted city going back a few centuries at least.
I am fascinated to know that the first female allopathic doctor of India hails from Kalyan! She is mentioned in the Kalyan wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalyan. This wiki page states that Joshi is believed to be the first Hindu woman to set foot on American (USA) soil! Hmm. That's very interesting!]
* Her husband Gopal Rao Joshi initially worked as a postal clerk in Kalyan. Her husband was very particular that Anandibai study rather than do household chores like cooking.
* At the age of 14 years, Anandibai gave birth to a boy who lived only for ten days. Anandibai decided to become a medical doctor.
* The couple moved to Calcutta. There Anandibai learned to read and speak English and Sanskrit.
* In 1880, her husband wrote to an American missionary, Royal Wilder, about his wife's desire to study to be a medical doctor, and also his desire to seek a job in America. Wilder published this correspondence in Princeton's Missionary Review. Theodicia Carpenter of Roselle, New Jersey, read this when she was waiting to see her dentist. Theodicia Carpenter wrote to Anandibai.
* Anandibai had health problems. Carpenter sent her medicines from America but that did not help.
* In 1883, Gopal Rao Joshi was transferred to Serampore. He decided to send Anandibai to USA under the care of (chaperoned by) two missionary ladies.
* A physician (medical doctor) couple in USA, the Thorborns, suggested that Anandibai should apply to Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drexel_University_College_of_Medicine (now known as Drexel University College of Medicine). There is another wiki page for it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woman%27s_Medical_College_of_Pennsylvania, which says that it was founded in 1850 and was the second medical institution in the world to train women to earn M.D. degrees (become medical doctors). The first one seems to be the New England Female Medical College, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_England_Female_Medical_College, founded in 1848 (merged in 1874 with Boston University School of Medicine).
[Ravi: Oh! So women could become (allopathic) medical doctors only from 1848 onwards and the first such women's medical schools (not just nursing schools) were in USA and NOT Europe. That is rather surprising. I would have thought UK or France or some such European country would have had the first women's medical college.]
* Orthodox Hindu community were very critical of Anandibai's plans to go to the West. Anandibai and her husband were from the Brahmin community. [Ravi: If I recall correctly, I have read that in those days, Hindu Brahmins were prohibited by their community elders to travel by sea to foreign countries (e.g. Western world) and were threatened with excommunication from the community if they did so.]
* Anandibai addressed the community in a hall in Serampore. She argued that Hindu women medical doctors (physicians) would be able to serve Hindu women. After her speech, she received financial contributions for her trip from all over India.
* Anandibai travelled to New York from Calcutta, reaching New York in June 1883 where she was received by Theodicia Carpenter. She was looked after during her voyage by two female English missionary acquaintances of the Thorborns.
* The Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania admitted Anandibai to their medical progam. Anandibai was 19 years old at that time. Her health worsened in America. She contracted Tuberculosis. But she graduated with an M.D. in March 1886. Her thesis was titled, "Obstetrics among the Aryan Hindoos." The thesis used references from Ayurvedic texts as well as American medical textbooks. Queen Victoria sent Anandibai a congratulatory message on her graduation.
* Anandibai returned to India in late 1886. She was appointed physician-in-charge of the female ward of Albert Edward Hospital in Kolhapur by the princely state of Kolhapur.
* Anandibai died of tuberculosis on 26th Feb. 1887. She had not yet turned 22 years of age.
* Her ashes were sent to Theodicia Carpenter who placed them in her family cemetry at Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetry in Poughkeepsie, New York. https://wpdh.com/crater-on-venus-named-after-woman-buried-in-poughkeepsie/ shows two pics of the tombstone of Anandibai in Poughkeepsie, New York. The inscription reads:
ANANDABAI
JOSHEE M.D.
1865 - 1887
FIRST BRAHMIN WOMAN
TO LEAVE INDIA TO OBTAIN
AN EDUCATION
--- end of tombstone text ---
[Ravi: The inscription implies that Brahmin women in India did not get education in that period (1880s). That implication is inaccurate as India does boast of Hindu women in the past who were very well educated and knowledgeable. But it may be true that most Brahmin women of the 1880s may not have received education like Brahmin men received.
And it certainly may be true that Anandibai Gopalrao Joshi was the first Hindu woman who travelled outside India to obtain an education (medical education in this case).]
==========
Fascinating story! And to put it in context of current age, I would like to say that my elder sister (elder to me by 10 years) got her M.B.B.S. (physician/medical doctor) degree in the 1970s in Bombay (Nair hospital, TNMC). She was the first woman in the extended family to be a medical doctor. A male cousin also become a doctor around that time. I think these two persons were the first medical doctors in our extended family. Note that most of the earlier generation of our family had been raised in Kerala, and in what seems to have been comparatively financially challenging situations. Whereas my generation were raised in Bombay with most of the family men having a regular salaried job, and most of us were born after India's independence in 1947. So my generation benefited a lot in terms of access to better quality education as well as higher education, as compared to previous generations of my extended family.
My sister became an allopathic medical doctor studying in Bombay, India in 1970s, close to but less than 100 years after Anandibai Gopalrao Joshi became India's first female allopathic medical doctor in 1886 graduating from medical school in Pennsylvania, USA. Hmm. That's some food for thought, in terms of extraordinary progress made in India in terms of women's education, in the past century or two.
[I thank wikipedia and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above references from their website on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]
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