Kadambini Ganguly

Kadambini Ganguly (Bengali: কাদম্বিনী গাঙ্গুলি; 18 July 1862 – 3 October 1923)[2] along with Anandibai Joshi was one of the first two female physicians from India as well as from the entire British Empire. Kadambini, herself, was also the first Indian as well as South Asian female physician, trained in western medicine, to graduate in South Asia.

Kadambini Ganguly
Born	Kadambini Basu 18 July 1862[1] Bhagalpur, British India
Died	3 October 1923 (aged 62) Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India
Alma mater	Bethune College University of Calcutta Calcutta Medical College
Occupation	Doctor, women's emancipation
Spouse(s)	Dwarkanath Ganguly

Early life

The daughter of Brahmo reformer Braja Kishore Basu, she was born on 18 July 1861 at Bhagalpur, Bihar in British India. The family was from Chandsi, in Barisal which is now in Bangladesh. Her father was headmaster of Bhagalpur School. He and Abhay Charan Mallick started the movement for women's emancipation at Bhagalpur, establishing the women's organisation Bhagalpur Mahila Samiti in 1863, the first in India.

Kadambini started her education at Banga Mahila Vidyalaya and while at Bethune School (established by Bethune) in 1878 became the first woman to pass the University of Calcutta entrance examination. It was partly in recognition of her efforts that Bethune College first introduced FA (First Arts), and then graduation courses in 1883. She and Chandramukhi Basu became the first graduates from Bethune College, and in the process became the first female graduates in the country and in the entire British Empire.[3]

Kadambini joined the medical college in 1883 despite strong criticism from the society opposing women liberation. In 1888, she was awarded GBMC and became the first woman physician with a Western medical degree in the whole of South Asia. In 1893, she travelled to Edinburgh and qualified as LRCP (Edinburgh), LRCS (Glasgow) and GFPS (Dublin).[4]

Personal life

As the mother of eight children, she had to devote considerable time to her household affairs. She was deft in needlework.

The noted American historian David Kopf[5] has written, "Ganguli's wife, Kadambini, was appropriately enough the most accomplished and liberated Brahmo woman of her time. From all accounts, their relationship was most unusual in being founded on mutual love, sensitivity and intelligence… Mrs. Ganguli's case was hardly typical even among the more emancipated Brahmo and Christian women in contemporary Bengali society. Her ability to rise above circumstances and to realize her potential as a human being made her a prize attraction to Sadharan Brahmos dedicated ideologically to the liberation of Bengal's women."[6]

She was heavily criticised by the then conservative society opposing women liberation. After returning to India and campaigning for women's rights ceaselessly, she was indirectly called a 'whore' in the magazine 'Bangabashi', but that could not deter her determination. Her husband, Dwarkanath Ganguly, took the case up to the court and eventually won with a jail sentence of 6 months meted out to the editor Mahesh Pal.[4][7]

In popular culture

A television Bengali serial Prothoma Kadambini based on her biography is being telecast since March 2020. Solanki Roy portrays her in the serial aired on Star Jalsha and available on Hotstar.[8] Another Bengali series named "Kadambini" (2020) starring Ushasi Roy in titular role, was also telecasted in Zee Bangla.

Notes

• Kopf, David (1979), The Brahmo Samaj and the Shaping of the Modern Indian Mind, Princeton University Press, ISBN 0-691-03125-8
• Sengupta, Subodh Chandra and Bose, Anjali (editors), (1976/1998), Sansad Bangali Charitabhidhan (Biographical dictionary) in Bengali, pp 79–80, ISBN 81-85626-65-0
• Murshid, Ghulam (2012). "Ganguly, Kadambini". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.

References

1. Karlekar, Malavika (2012). "Anatomy of a Change: Early Women Doctors". India International Centre Quarterly. 39 (3/4): 95–106. JSTOR 24394278.
2. SEN, B.K. (September 2014). "KADAMBINI GANGULY – AN ILLUSTRIOUS LADY" (PDF). Science and Culture - Indian Science News Organization.
3. Female students were admitted into Oxford University in 1879, one year after the admission of female students for undergraduate studies at the University of Calcutta "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 18 October 2006. Retrieved 5 November 2006.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link). The tripos was opened to women at Cambridge only in 1881 .
4. "The Life and Work of Dr Kadambini Ganguly, the First Modern Indian Woman Physician". Retrieved 5 April 2007.
5. "David Kopf". History at Minnesota. Regents of the University of Minnesota. Archived from the original on 16 May 2006. Retrieved 5 November 2006.
6. Kopf, David (1979). The Brahmo Samaj and the Shaping of the Modern Indian Mind. Princeton University Press. p. 125. ISBN 978-0-691-03125-5.CS1 maint: date and year (link)
7. "Dwarakanath Ganguly – A Forgotten Hero – The Indian Messenger Online". Retrieved 6 August 2020.
8. "Prothoma Kadombini to launch on March 16 - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 8 November 2020.