Chances are you may or may not have heard of Anandibai Joshee, the first Indian woman to attend an American medical college and get a medical degree. Anandibai studied at the Women’s Medical College in Pennsylvania and returned to India after completing her studies. Tragically she died within months of her return on February 27, 1887. She was barely 22 years old.
The reason why we may not have heard of Anandibai is because she came to the US in the late 19th century. The US did not figure in the imagination of young Indians under the British Raj and neither was it their country of preference to study. It was England and the English universities that were the preferred destinations for modern young Indians like Kadambini Ganguly (who studied medicine in England the same time Anandibai was studying in the USA), Pandita Ramabai, Gandhi, Nehru and others.
So, how did Anandibai end up in the USA to study medicine? It appears to be a combination of preparation and luck along with a set of happy coincidences.
Anandibai was born on March 31,1865 to Ganaptrao and Gungabai Joshee in Poona, India. When she was 9-10 years old she was married off to Gopalrao Vinayak Joshee, who worked for the Indian postal service. Gopalrao was passionate that young women need to be educated and undertook the task of educating his young bride. How Anandibai came to study medicine may have influenced from a personal tragedy. Within a couple of years of her marriage Anandibai gave birth to a young baby boy, but tragically lost him within a few days of his birth. If only Anandibai had access to better medical facilities she may have been able to save her son. But that was not the case. Perhaps it was this personal loss of her young baby that inspired Anandibai to study medicine and specialize in obstetrics.
By the time she was 18 years Anandibai had been home schooled and was fluent in English and grammar as this letter highlights. Around this time Gopalrao had gotten in touch with Royal Wilder, an American missionary living in Princeton, New Jersey. Wilder was an old India man, and one of the early American missionaries to work in India. He came to India sometime in 1846 along with his wife and raised a family there. He worked mostly around Kolhapur area in Maharashtra for close to three decades before returning to the USA and founding “The Missionary Review” in Princeton. Wilder was the person who helped Anandibai and wrote about her desire to study in the US in his magazine, which in turn was read by Theodocia Carpenter, who eventually became the surrogate family for Anandibai during her stay in the US.
Through the efforts of Mrs. Carpenter and other Americans Anandibai was admitted to study medicine at the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania. This was the first medical college for women in the world and was established in 1850 and is today part of the Drexel University, College of Medicine.
October 10,1885: Dr Anandibai Joshee, Seranysore, India.Our Homage on International Women’s Day : Dr. Anandi Gopal Joshi – Dr. Abhijit Chakraborty
“I did all that I could.”
ANANDIBAI’S LAST WORDS
After her cremation according to Hindu rites, Gopal Rao sent Anandibai’s ashes to her ‘American family’ rather than immersing them in a holy river as was the usual practice. These ashes are buried in Mrs. Carpenter’s family lot in a cemetery in New York State. Her tombstone reads –
At a time, when we are celebrating the International Women’s day with lots of programs and advertising the achievements of women personalities in various spheres, most of us might be surprised to hear this name—- mostly known to a selected few.
It was about 150 years back at Kalyan, a place close to Mumbai; in a well to do Brahmin family, Yamuna Joshi was born on 31st March, 1865. At the age of 9, she was married to Gopal Rao, who was much older than her and lost his wife a few years back. Contrary to the prevalent social structure, Gopal was an ardent supporter of widow remarriage of Hindu girls and was vocal about women’s education, though he was infamous for his arrogant behaviors. He renamed his wife to Anandi. Interestingly, there was a condition in this marriage that Gopal be allowed to teach his wife and she must have to continue her education. Gopal took resort to lots of violent abusive techniques like beating his child-wife publicly, throwing books at her etc. The one and only goal was to educate Anandi. Once, Anandi went to kitchen to help Gopal’s grandmother in cooking. The outrageous Gopal beat Anandi with bamboo sticks as she wasted her precious time for studies. Unfortunately, the postmaster Gopal did not find any school for Anandi as women were not allowed to enroll at that time. Gopal heard of Pandit Iswarchandra Vidyasagar and about his works on Women’s education. He quickly decided to seek a transfer to Calcutta with only aim of educating her wife. In Calcutta, Anandi faced a lot of difficulties and was compelled to take admission in a Missionary School.
In between, tragedy struck the family— at the age of 14, Anandi gave birth to a son. But unfortunately, she lost her child within a few days as neither she nor Gopal could share their difficulties with the attending physician, who was actually a quack and they could not visit an authorized medical practitioner trained in Western Medicine. This incident had infuriated Gopal. Anandi then determined to pursue her education further and vowed to seek an end to this kind of practices. She realized the need of female doctors in the per-independent India. Seeing this transformation in Anandi, Gopal was too excited to make her dream a reality. In 1880, a year later, Gopal was transferred to Serampore, only 20 kilometers from Calcutta. Gopal wrote to Mr. Wilder, a famous American missionary stating his wife’s interest in medical education. He also offered to become a missionary at the same time. Unfortunately, this was not taken in a good grace by her wife and Anandi for the first time had protested vehemently against Gopal. In the Annual Meeting of the famous magazine “Missionary Review” held in 1883 at a public hall in Serampore College, Anandi addressed the audience and stressed the need of female doctors in the society and if any opportunity is provided, she went on to say, “I volunteer to qualify myself as one”. She was allowed to speak there due to her exemplary performance in the examinations. Audience was struck by this speech from an apparently simple woman of 16 years only. In the meantime, Mr. Wilder has published the letter of Gopal in the Princeton edition of “Missionary Review”. A benevolent lady, Mrs. Carpenter of Roselle, New Jersey, while visiting her dentist had come across that magazine and came to know about Anandi. Her story and Gopal’s zeal for education had touched the core of her heart. She talked to Gopal and Anandi and asked them to apply at various American Universities for medical education. After being informed that all the applications of Anandi were rejected by various universities, Mrs. Carpenter had volunteered to host Anandi and she got admission to Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania. The relationship between Mrs. Carpenter and Anandi was so close that she used to call Carpenter as “Maushi” (A hindi name for an “Aunt”). The life in America was a big struggle for her. Due to financial constraints and obligations, she could not rent a room with fireplace. She was compelled to survive the extreme winter putting all her clothes she brought from her own country, sometimes including blankets. This took a toll in her life. She was contacted with flu and slowly became frail and too weak, but continued her studies for long periods of time ignoring all these warnings. Her indomitable spirit was awarded in 1886. Anandi Gopal Joshi became the first female doctor from British India educated in the Western Medical System of education. Interestingly, she became the fifth registered female doctor of the world. The thesis of her degree was “Obstetrics among Aryan Hindus”, a subject which was so close to her heart. She started her long return journey on sea with a poor health. She became sick in the ship, but the doctors on the ship refused to treat a “Brown Woman”. She returned to India in the later part of 1886 to serve her motherland, a wish she cherished since the loss of her son. She started attending female patients from various sections of the society. Unfortunately, the fragile health did not allow her to continue the practice for a long time. She was seen coughing and sneezing incessantly. She was diagnosed with tuberculosis. Her beloved “Maushi”, Mrs. Carpenter sent some medicines from America. She was also studying various books to find out any medicine. But, alas nothing could save this great human being. The untimely death came on the wee hours of 27th February, 1887, just a month before her 23rd birthday. India lost one of the bravest female soul, the country ever had. After cremation according to Hindu rites, Gopal had sent her ashes to her beloved “Maushi”. Mrs. Carpenter had placed them in their family cemetery at the Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery in Poughkeepsie, New York. The inscription on the cemetery is still bearing the signature of an extremely short but an inspiring life of a woman.
Reference:
1. M. Kosambi, (1996), ‘Anandibai Joshee – Retrieving a Fragmented Feminist Image’, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 31, No. 49.
2. M. Kosambi (Spring 2003)”Caste and Outcast (review)“. Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History – Volume 4, Number 1, , The Johns Hopkins University Press.
3. E. Carol (1979). “Medicine and Health Care“. In O’Neill, L. Decker (ed.). The Women’s Book of World Records and Achievements. First Hindu Woman Doctor” Page- 204. Anchor Press.. ISBN 0385127332. “
Left – Theodocia Eighmie Carpenter; Right – Dr. Rachel Bodley
Women’s Medical College and Hospital, Philadelphia
Left – Anandibai Joshi from India; Center – Kei Okami from Japan; Right – Tabat M. Islambooly from Ottoman Syria, students from the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania.
“Little Mrs. Joshee who graduated with high honours in her class, received quite an ovation.”
QUEEN VICTORIA IN THE PHILADELPHIA POST
Proudly framed in the college archives, Queen Victoria’s reply to Anandi Joshi’s achievement
who continued to be in constant contact with the young Indian student. Anandibai sent long letters to her husband about her stay in the USA. It must have been a challenging experience considering that Anandibai adhered to a strict vegetarian diet and was not used to the brutal cold weather on the East Coast. During her last few months of her stay in the US she contracted tuberculosis. In spite of various challenges, Anandibai appears to have bravely endured the hardship and novelty of living in America and successfully completed her medical education. Interestingly Anandibai’s research thesis was Obstetrics among the Aryan Hindoos (see the image). For her graduation ceremony Anandibai invited her friend Pandita Ramabai, and this is confirmed by Max Mueller in his book Auld Lang Syne. Second Series. My Indian Friends.
On
March 11, 1886 Anandibai received her degree in medicine, and instead
of staying back in the US, she went back to India with her husband, who
had come to accompany her back for the trip. In an interesting twist
Anandibai went back to work in Kolhapur, the same are where Wilder had
worked as a missionary during his 30 year stay in India. But, within
months of her return Anandibai succumbed to tuberculosis and died. Her
ashes were sent to Mrs. Carpenter, who erected a tombstone for Anandibai
in her family burial plot in Poughkeepsie, New York.When she was exploring her options to study in American she was often asked if she would convert to Christianity, a suggestion she resisted. Perhaps that might explain the reason why the epitaph on her American tombstone reads: “First Brahmin woman to leave India and obtain an education.”
Sadly, one of the unintended consequences of Anandibai’s progressive education was the change that it brought about in her reform-minded husband. While she was adjusting to her new life in America and putting up a brave face her husband appears to have developed a certain amount of resentment towards her progress.
Anandibai’s pathbreaking education did not go unnoticed. In 1886 Carolina Dall wrote a book on “Life of Dr. Anandbai Joshee.” where she outlined in great detail about the Anandibai and her life in the USA.
Thanks to Dr. Ashok Gore in Southern California for sharing the information and pictures and images related to Anandibai Joshee. Dr. Gore was kind enough to let me leaf through an old and well-preserved copy of Life of Dr. Anandibai Joshee written by Caroline Dall in the late 19th century. Mrs. Dall was one of the first people to write extensively about Anandibai. The book appears to have got quite a bit of publicity including this one-line description from The Nation in 1888. The proceeds from the sale of the book was to benefit Pandita Ramabai’s school fund. The book is a treasure trove that contains all kinds of information about the first Indian woman to study medicine in the USA. Dr. Gore has been tirelessly working on collecting and spreading awareness about Anandibai Joshee for nearly 25 years.
WOMEN OF THE PAST: REDISCOVERED – Anandi Gopal Joshi: India’s 1st Female Doctor
“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.”
ANANDI GOPAL JOSHI
A portrait photo of Dr. Anandibai Joshee, M.D., Class of 1886 at the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania
Of all the women whom I have written about till now, the one string of familiarity that binds them all together is the fact that they were all empowered self-made women, who made a name for themselves in an otherwise male-dominated world. Noor Inayat Khan, an Indian-origin World War II spy; Rajkumari Amrit Kaur – Independent India’s first Female Health Minister; Durga Devi Vohra – a woman who fought for India’s independence alongside Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev and Chandrashekhar Azad; and Jahanara Begum – a royal princess and able administrator who took care the vast Mughal Empire at a time when tragedy had struck her family. All of these women have either been forgotten or slowly have been erased from the pages of our history. And so, I bring to you a story of yet another woman who broke through the barriers of a patriarchal society and became a beacon of hope for all other women who had dreams that needed to be fulfilled – Dr. Anandi Gopal Joshi.
Anandibai’s father
Born on 31st March, 1865 as ‘Yamuna’ in Kalyan (Mumbai), Anandi Gopal Joshi was raised in a family of former landlords who were experiencing financial troubles. This situation forced her to get married at a very young and early age of 9. Her husband, Gopal Rao Joshi, gave her the name ‘Anandi’, post marriage, according to the customs back then. However, Anandibai did not lead a conventional married life like other girls her age. Her husband, Gopal Rao was a widower and 25-years-old, at the time. He was an extremely progressive man and well ahead of his time. Before he married Anandibai, he laid down a condition, that he would only marry her if she agreed to educate herself post marriage. Only when Anandibai’s parents agreed, very reluctantly, did they get married. He made sure that his wife studied, every single day. The only downside was that Gopal Rao was prone to fits of rage. Whenever he found that she wasn’t studying or whiling away her time cooking and taking care of the house, he would routinely reprimand and beat her, “flinging chairs and books” at her, according to the letters she wrote to him from the US.
The only available picture of – Gopalrao Joshi
Once, when he walked into the kitchen and saw her cooking instead of studying, he threw a fit of rage. Gopal Rao himself was a very well-educated man. He could read and speak in English, and defied all the Hindu norms which bound a woman only to the house. This is why society saw him as an ‘eccentric’ person and a man of extremely ‘unusual behaviour’. Gopal Rao Joshi was dead-set on making Anandibai learn fluent English. Since the revolt of 1857, British rule in India had solidified and Gopal Rao knew that they were not going away anytime soon. Which is why, he knew the importance that English Language held. He had a son from his earlier marriage whom Anandibai readily accepted as her own. He faced a lot of problems and judgements from the society for his forward thinking. Widowed women were treated as untouchables at the time and were not allowed to work or touch anything in the house. Gopal Rao’s mother-in-law, from his previous marriage, who was also a widower, was pushed by him to break the norms and work in the house, so that Anandibai could focus on her studies.
Anandibai Joshi after joining Medical College in America
Couples like Jyotiba Phule and his wife Savitribai, Justice M.G. Ranade and his wife Ramabai were role models for Anandi and Gopal Rao. When Anandibai was 14-years-old, she gave birth to a son. Tragedy struck and he died within 10 days. This loss proved to be very difficult for the young mother to bear. When realisation struck Anandibai faced a bitter truth – her infant son was so sick that died, and nobody in the house could identify any symptoms. She vowed to become a doctor, on the grounds that even if she couldn’t save her own son, she could help others in need. She also realised that females were uncomfortable, as she experienced it herself, going to male doctors. Gopal Rao tried to raise funds to educate his wife, and managed to get a transfer in Bombay where she could attend a Christian Missionary school. However, they faced a lot of trouble from the society at the time because Hindu children attending a Christian school was considered a taboo at the time. Gopal Rao soon realised that Anandibai had no future in India if she really wanted to become a doctor. Forget a degree in medicine, girls could not even attend normal school without being shunned by the society.
Anandi’s letter seeking scholarship/fee waiver in the college.
So, he attempted to make ends meet so that both of them could go to the United States where Anandibai could pursue a degree a medicine. Although he initially hoped that both of them could go to America, he soon realised that they only had enough money for Anandibai to go. Gopal Rao would have to wait for some time and then join her later America. Anandibai herself vehemently opposed the decision at first, but later agreed to go to the United States, all alone. In a move that was unimaginable for its time, the couple made the decision to let Anandibai go all alone to the States to become a doctor. The only concern was the housing – where would she stay? Theodicia Carpenter from New Jersey, had read about the couple’s attempts to come to the US in the local Princeton Missionary Review publication, and offered them support. In the two years (1881 to 1883) preceding the year she left for America, Anandibai and Mrs. Carpenter exchanged a number of letters. Here, she explained her entire journey and the reason why she wanted to become a doctor. Along with this, she also elaborated on the Indian culture, her life in India recipes for Indian food, the importance of cow dung to maintain a house and Indian philosophy.
Left – Theodocia Eighmie Carpenter; Right – Dr. Rachel Bodley
Finally, in 1883 Anandi Gopal Joshi set sail for America on a steamer called ‘The City of Calcutta’. Before she departed, Anandibai made a speech in English assuring everyone that she was going to the States for a reason – to become a doctor. She assured the public that she would not abandon her faith during her stay there – she would leave and return as a Hindu. Mrs. Carpenter who received her in America, continued to be a huge source of support to her. Anandibai got accepted by the Women’s Medical College in Pennsylvania, and also won a scholarship. During her stay in the States, Anandibai tried her best to reconcile her tradition Maharashtrian lifestyle with her new life in America. She continued to dress in a sari and ate only vegetarian food. Mrs. Carpenter kept most of her correspondence with Anandibai safe, as she was aware that her stay in America was a historical one. All of these letters reveal a great deal about Anandibai’s thoughts. Happiness for her, was an affirmation of her faith in God. She hated being dependent on anyone else, and was against slavery. Irresponsible behaviour made her unhappy. She loved reading and in one letter even revealed that she could read and speak in 7 languages – Marathi, her native tongue, Hindoosthani (Hindi), Bengali, Gujarati, Canari, Sanskrit and English. She had an excellent command over English and received many complements for the same. It is also said that the strain of mastering English was so great that it temporarily made her forget Marathi. The letters she addressed to her husband were always in devanagari or modi script.
Women’s Medical College and Hospital, Philadelphia
However, there were two problems. First, her husband, Gopal Rao, although extremely supportive, was fickle. He would suddenly show a lot of anger towards her in his letters. Whenever Anandibai told him about her achievements and asked for encouragement, he would often find faults in her and criticized her. All of this deeply hurt Anandibai. Secondly, her health was weak even at the time of travelling to the States. Dean Bodley of the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania looked after Anandibai personally when she was too ill to live on her own. Despite all of these obstacles, on 11th March 1886, Anandi Gopal Joshi graduated and became the first Indian woman to ever be qualified as a doctor. The subject of dissertation was ‘Obstetrics among Hindu Aryans’. Gopal Rao too was extremely proud of is young wife. Anandibai had already been offered a position as a doctor at the Albert Edward Hospital in Kolhapur as the physician in charge of the female ward. She was extremely keen to get back home and start practicing medicine.
Left – Anandibai Joshi from India; Center – Kei Okami from Japan; Right – Tabat M. Islambooly from Ottoman Syria, students from the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania.
All three were the first woman from their respective countries to obtain a degree in Western medicine.
Gopal Rao had joined Anandibai in America prior to her graduation. They were all set to sail back to India in October 1886. However, the joy of finally becoming a doctor, was marred by a dark cloud. It turned out that Anandibai’s gradual decline in health was due to tuberculosis, a disease that was uncurable at the time. This was the tragedy of her medical triumph. In the course of her pursuit to save others, Anandibai’s own health had failed her. The long journey back home only added to the troubles. However, the couple was astonished to see that all the harsh criticism inflicted upon them for years together, had melted into a sea of happiness for the young doctor. In fact, even Queen Victoria sent her a congratulatory message. The Philadelphia Post wrote,
“Little Mrs. Joshee who graduated with high honours in her class, received quite an ovation.”
QUEEN VICTORIA IN THE PHILADELPHIA POST
Proudly framed in the college archives, Queen Victoria’s reply to Anandi Joshi’s achievement
The next year itself, on 26 February 1887, tuberculosis took her life and Anandibai Joshi passed away at the young age of 21 years. She was just a month short of tuning 22. Her last words are supposedly
“I did all that I could.”
ANANDIBAI’S LAST WORDS
After her cremation according to Hindu rites, Gopal Rao sent Anandibai’s ashes to her ‘American family’ rather than immersing them in a holy river as was the usual practice. These ashes are buried in Mrs. Carpenter’s family lot in a cemetery in New York State. Her tombstone reads –
“First Brahmin woman to leave India to obtain an education.”
THE ENGRAVING ON ANANDIBAI’S TOMBSTONE
Dr. Anandibai Joshi’s tombstone in New York
People often get confused between her and Kadambini Ganguly as to who was the first female Indian doctor. Anandibai completed her education abroad, while Kadambini Ganguly completed hers in India itself. Thus, Anandibai was the first female doctor who got her degree in western medicine from the United States, while Kadambini Ganguly was the first female doctor to practice medicine.
In a span of just 21 years Anandibai achieved more than people do in a lifetime. A crater on Venus has been named in her honour. The 34.3 km-diameter crater on Venus named ‘Joshee’ lies at latitude 5.5° N and longitude 288.8° E.
This was the life of Dr. Anandi Gopal Joshi. A woman who became an inspiration for women across the world. She fought all odds along with her husband, and managed to get a degree in medicine, something that no woman before her had done.
A photo of Anandi Gopal Joshi with her signature on it.
To read about more such women, click on the link below:
Women of the Past: Rediscovered – Itihaas to History
Sources and Media:
A Marathi movie was released in 2019 – ‘Anandi Gopal’, and is now available on Zee5.
Dr Anandibai Joshi’s biopic – Scroll.in
Anandi Gopal Joshi – Google Arts & Culture
A Beacon of Hope – The Struggles and Success of Dr. Anandibai Joshi – Heritage India
Why is a Crater on Venus Named After India’s Dr Anandibai Joshi? – The Quint
