Anandibai Joshi

Anandibai Gopalrao Joshi, first Indian female doctor was born on 31 March 1865, originally named Yamuna, she was born and raised in Kalyan, her family uses to be landlords before experiencing financial losses, due to pressure from her mother and practice she was married at the age of nine with Gopalrao Joshi, a widower 20 years elder than her worked as a postal clerk in Kalyan, after marriage she was renamed her Anandi by her husband .he was a progressive thinker so he supported education for girls at that time.
AnandiBai gave birth to a boy at the age of fourteen, but due to lack of medical care, the child died after ten days of his birth, which made a turning point in Anandibai’s life, inspired her to be a physician, as Gopalrao tried to enroll her to a missionary school and couldn’t succeed so he moved to Calcutta, where she learned to read and speak English and Sanskrit.

In 1880, as she was encouraged by her husband to study medicine, he sent a letter to Royal Wilder, an American Missionary stating his wife’s interest in studying medicine in the United States and also requesting a post for himself in the US, Wilder published correspondence in Princeton’s Missionary Review, Theodicia Carpenter of Roselle, New Jersey impressed by the review then she wrote to Anandibai they become close friend, Carpenter later would host Anandibai in Rochelle during her stay in the US.
While Anadibai was in Calcutta, her health was declining ad Gopalrao was transferred to Serampore, so despite her poor health he convinced Anandibai to go by herself to the US and set an example for women for pursuing higher education.

Suggested by a physician couple, she applied to the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania, she traveled to New York from Kolkata on the ship. She began her medical training at the age of 19, because of cold and irregular diet out there she contracted tuberculosis, somehow she graduated wth medical degree in Mach 1886, her thesis topic was “Obstetrics among the Aryan Hindoos” it got utilized references from both Ayurvedic texts and American Medical textbooks.

Queen Victoria congratulated her on her Graduation, on her return to India she received a grand welcome, the princely State of Kolhapur appointed her Physician -in -charge of the female ward of the Albert Edward Hospital.
She died of Tuberculosis on 28 February 1887 in Pune, she was in treatment but those were not working she kept studying medicine till death, She got fame for her determination and Hardwork, to become the first women to study western medicine.