Anandibai Joshi

India's first female physician who broke caste and gender barriers to study medicine in the US

Anandibai Joshi (1865-1887) shattered societal norms as India's first woman to earn a Western medical degree. Married at 9 and widowed by 14, she defied expectations by pursuing education. With support from reformers like Justice M.G. Ranade, she sailed to the US in 1883 to study at Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania (now Drexel University). Her 1886 graduation speech expressed her mission: 'I may be allowed to spend my life working for the good of our hapless women.' Tragically, she died of tuberculosis at 21, just months after returning to India.

Joshi's legacy inspired generations of Indian women. The biography Anandibai Joshi documents her correspondence revealing her struggles with poverty and racism abroad. Modern initiatives like the Anandibai Joshi Medical College in India honor her. Though overshadowed by later figures like Savitribai Phule, her courage paved the way for women in STEM. Her story is preserved in Indian Express archives and British Library collections of her letters.