On July 18, 1861, Kadambini Ganguly or Kadambini Basu, along with her sister Chandramukhi Basu, was born into a Brahmo household in Chandsi, Bengal’s Barisal district (now Bangladesh). And she was South Asia’s first doctor to get three bachelor’s degrees in medicine! Let’s retrace her steps.
She was the daughter of Braja Kishore Basu, the headmaster of Bhagalpur school, who was a devotee of Brahman and women’s education, and he created the first women’s organization in India in 1863. Calcutta was the destination of choice for his daughter’s further education. Women’s education was completely ignored by society at the time.
Kadambini Ganguly Career
She began working at Lady Dufferin Women’s Hospital, earning a monthly wage of Rs 200. In 1892, she makes the decision to go to college in London. They plan on taking on their coworkers and administrative personnel as a formidable adversary.
While at London, she was awarded three highly esteemed degrees: the Edinburgh-educated, Dublin-educated, and London-educated (Glasgow). She has the distinction of being the first woman in all of South Asia to get a foreign medical degree and practice western medicine.
Kadambini Ganguly Biography
It was Kadambini’s accomplishment to be one of the first Indian women to graduate from college in India. It’s worth noting that the lady is also a South Asian woman doctor, having completed her training in the West. A Bangla Mahila Vidyalaya eventually amalgamated with Bethune School, where she had been a student for many years before to that.
She earned her bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the University of Calcutta. She’s one of just two women in the race who’ve made it this far. She was a trailblazer in the battle for equal access to education and an inspiration to many other women.
Dwarakanath Ganguly, a notable Brahmo reformer and father of eight children, married the woman. Kadambini Ganguly husband was a true ally in her endeavors to further her education and career goals. The Brahmo Samaj and the upper-caste Bhadralok communities reacted angrily to both of them. Maheshchandra Pal, editor of a well-known Bengali magazine, called the spiritual woman a “courtesan” and sentenced her to six months in jail for her beliefs.
In addition, she was active in a number of anti-colonial campaigns that helped to India’s independence. She was the first woman to sit on the Indian National Congress’s legislative committee. During the partition of Bengal, she coordinated several activities and brought together the Women’s Conference in Calcutta in 1908.
For female coal workers in eastern India, she battled tirelessly for their rights. As president of the Transvaal Indian Association, she took a stance on the issue. When she died in 1923 she was still working as a healer.
Kadambini Ganguly’s struggle for a society
As a doctor and philanthropist, Mrs. Ganguly was an outspoken advocate for women’s equality. She returned to India after finishing her education in the West, she began a struggle for women’s rights.
The Indian National Congress was first formed in 1885, women were Barr from speaking, and her husband Dwarkanath Ganguly was the first to raise his voice in protest. However, by 1889, six women was permit to speak at an Indian National Congress conference for the first time. In addition to Kadambini Ganguly, six other women was choose for consideration.
She was the first of the six women MPs elected to the Indian National Congress to make a speech in 1889. Her desire to fight for the rights of women in her nation was inspired by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s efforts.
Death of Kadambini Ganguly
In spite of the fact that Kadambini Ganguly suffered from high blood pressure, she never let it interfere with her efforts to serve the people.
After successfully operating on a patient on October 3, 1923, Kadambini returned to her house and died there.
Kadambini Ganguly’s Shocking/Interesting Facts & Secrets
- The fields of pediatrics and obstetrics are within her expertise as well.
- As far as Brahmo women go, she was the most accomplished and uninhibited.
- In Calcutta in 1890, she became the first woman to deliver a lecture in English INC.
- Swarnendu & Samaddar produced a Bengali television series based on her history, “Prothoma Kadambini,” which aired on Star Jalsha from March 16 to February 28, 2020.
- Google doodled Kadambini’s 160th birthday on July 18, 2021, to commemorate the occasion.
