anandabai_joshi

First Indian woman to study medicine in the United States, breaking caste and gender barriers

Anandibai Joshi (1865-1887) became India's first female Western-trained physician despite immense societal opposition. Married at 9 and widowed by 14, she defied caste norms to pursue education. With support from reformers like J.J. Modi, she traveled to America in 1883 to study at Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania (now Drexel). Her 1886 graduation speech at Drexel University emphasized women's healthcare needs. Returning to India, she planned a women's hospital in Kolhapur but died of tuberculosis at 21. Her legacy lives through the Anandibai Joshi Medical Research Institute. She inspired later activists like Pandita Ramabai, and her story appears in Trailblazing Women in Medicine. The USPS honored her with a stamp in 2020, recognizing her role in breaking gender and caste barriers in Indian healthcare.