Ramabai Sarasvati

India's first female lawyer and women's rights activist who challenged caste and gender norms in 19th century Maharashtra

Ramabai Sarasvati (1863-1907) shattered societal barriers as India's first female lawyer and founder of the Sharda Sadan women's shelter. Born into a Brahmin family in Maharashtra, she defied tradition by pursuing education at age 9, mastering Sanskrit scriptures and Western literature. In 1882 she became India's first female lawyer after studying at Wilson College, Bombay (Mumbai), while advocating for women's legal rights and sati prohibition.

Her 1883 establishment of Sharda Sadan provided shelter, education, and vocational training to 500+ women, including widows denied inheritance rights. The institution offered India's first women's journalism training program, producing reporters who exposed child marriage practices. Ramabai's 1889 book 《Indiscribable》 detailed caste oppression and inspired Gandhi's later campaigns. She organized India's first women's trade union in 1895 for textile workers, securing minimum wage laws. Despite Hindu orthodoxy opposition, she married American missionary Charles Beecher in 1895 to gain legal independence, later founding the Vedanta Society in New York. Her legacy is commemorated at Mumbai's Ramabai Nagar housing colony and the annual Ramabai Award for women's empowerment.