First Woman Doctor of India

1. School of Civil Engineering
Subject – WPC-06
Biography Activity
First Female Doctor of India
Submission By –
Shubham D Kulkarni
T.Y. B-Tech, School of Civil Engineering
Div. – B
Roll No PB-55

2. Dr. Anandibai
Gopalrao Joshi
neeYamuna
Joshi
 (31st March 1865 – 26th February
1887)
 Ashes at Poughkeepsie, New
York, United States
 Married to – Shri. Gopalrao
Joshi
 Alma Mater -Woman's Medical
College of Pennsylvania

3. 31st March 1865
Born in Kalyan as
Yamuna Joshi
1874
Married to
Joshi
1875-1882
Shifted to Alibaug-
Kolhapur-Calcutta
1879
Lost Infant son
1879-1882
Learned reading
and writing
and English
1883
Travelled to
America for further
studies
1886
Graduated with
Doctorate
26th February 1887
Died at Pune, Due
to Tuberculosis
LIFE AT GLANCE… TIMELINE

4. Early Life and
Married Life
Originally named Yamuna, Joshi was born,
raised and married in Kalyan
She was married at the age of nine to
Gopalrao Joshi, a widower almost twenty
years her senior.
At the age of 14, Anandibai gave birth to a
boy, but the child lived for ten days for lack
of medical care. This turned as turning point
in her life
Her husband encouraged her to study
medicine. In 1880 he sent a letter to Royal
Wilder, stating his wife's interest in studying
medicine in the US

5. Academic Life
in US
Theodicia Carpenter, a resident of New Jersey,
helped Anandibai while her stay in US. Thorburn
suggested that Anandibai apply to the Woman's
Medical College of Pennsylvania.
On learning of Anandibai’s plans to pursue higher
education in the West, orthodox Indian society
censured her very strongly.
Anandibai began her medical training at age 19. In
US, her health worsened because of the cold
weather and unfamiliar diet. She contracted
tuberculosis.
She graduated with an MD in March 1886; having
thesis on "Obstetrics among the Aryan Hindus."
On her graduation, Queen Victoria sent her a
congratulatory message
Anandibai Joshi graduated from
Woman's Medical College of
Pennsylvania (WMC) in 1886.
Seen here with Kei Okami
(center) and Sabat Islambooly
(right). All three completed
their medical studies and each
of them was the first woman
from their respective countries
to obtain a degree in Western
medicine.

6. Return to India
and Death
In late 1886, Anandibai returned to India,
receiving a grand welcome. The princely state
of Kolhapur appointed her as the physician-in-
charge of the female ward of the local Albert
Edward Hospital.
Anandibai died of tuberculosis early the next
year on 26 February 1887.
Years preceding her death, she was fatigued
and felt constant weakness. Medicine was sent
to her from America
Her death was mourned throughout India. Her
ashes were sent to Theodicia Carpenter, who
placed them in her family cemetery at the
Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery in
Poughkeepsie, New York.
The inscription states that Anandi
Joshi was a Hindu Brahmin girl,
the first Indian woman to receive
education abroad and to obtain a
medical degree

7. Be grateful for challenges because... Had there been no
difficulties and no thorns in the way, then [each woman and]
man would have been in his primitive state and no progress
made in civilization and mental culture.
Dr. Anandibai Gopalrao Joshi

8. The inscription states that Anandi
Joshi was a Hindu Brahmin girl,
the first Indian woman to receive
education abroad and to obtain a
medical degree
Legacy
In 1888, American feminist writer Caroline Wells
Healey Dall wrote Joshi's biography. Dall was
acquainted with Joshi and admired her greatly
Doordarshan, aired a Hindi series based on her
life, called "Anandi Gopal" and directed by
Kamlakar Sarang. Shrikrishna Janardan Joshi
wrote a fictionalised account of her life in his
Marathi novel Anandi Gopal, which was adapted
into a play of the same name by Ram G. Joglekar.
Dr. Anjali Kirtane has extensively researched the
life of Dr. Anandibai Joshi and has written a
Marathi book entitled “Dr. Anandibai Joshi, Kaal
ani Kartutva” which contains rare photographs of
Dr. Anandibai Joshi.

9. The inscription states that Anandi
Joshi was a Hindu Brahmin girl,
the first Indian woman to receive
education abroad and to obtain a
medical degree
Legacy
The Institute for Research and Documentation in
Social Sciences (IRDS),has been awarding the
Anandibai Joshi Award for Medicine in honor of
her early contributions to the cause of advancing
medical science in India.
In addition, the Government of Maharashtra has
established a fellowship in her name for young
women working on women's health.
A crater on Venus has been named in her honor.
The 34.3 km-diameter crater on Venus named
'Joshee' lies at latitude 5.5° N and longitude
288.8° E.
On 31 March 2018, Google honored her with a
Google Doodle to mark her 153rd birth
anniversary.
A film on her life in Marathi has been made in
2019 as Anandi Gopal.

10. ... no man or woman should depend upon another for
maintenance and necessaries. Family discord and social
degradation will never end till each depends upon herself.
Dr. Anandibai Gopalrao Joshi

11. References
■ [1] Kosambi, Meera (December 7, 1996), ‘Anandibai Joshee – Retrieving a Fragmented
Feminist Image’, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 31, No. 49.
■ [2] Kosambi, Meera (2001) ‘A Prismatic Presence: the Multiple Iconisation of Dr
Anandibai Joshee and the Politics of Life-Writing’, Australian Feminist Studies, 16: 35,
157–173
■ [3] Joshi, S J (1968) (1970), ‘Anandi Gopal’
■ [4] blog at http://rsparlourtricks.blogspot.com/2006/03/anandibaijoshi.html
■ [5] Book review of Anandi-Gopal by Pratibha Ghogale-Kelapure, a San Francisco Bay
Area based writer on the SAWNET (South Asian Women’s NETwork) site
http://www.sawnet.org/books/ reviews.php?Anandi+Gopal
■ [6]www.Wikipedia.com