The first Indian woman to receive a medical degree in western medicine was Dr Anandibai Gopalrao Joshi (31 March 1865 – 26 February 1887). She was the first woman from India’s former Bombay presidency to study in the United States for two years and earn a degree in western medicine.
About DR ANANDIBAI GOPALRAO JOSHI
Joshi was born and raised in a Marathi Chitpavan Brahmin family and went by the name Yamuna. She married Gopalrao Joshi, a widower over twenty years her elder, when she was nine years old. Yamuna’s spouse changed her name to “Anandi” after their marriage. Gopalrao Joshi was a progressive thinker who advocated women’s education—unusual at the time.
STORY BEGINS
Anandibai gave birth to a boy when she was fourteen years old, but the kid only survived for a total of ten days due to a lack of medical attention. Anandi’s life was changed by this, and she was motivated to pursue a career in medicine as a result.
Gopalrao had an obsession with Anandibai’s education and wished for her to pursue a career in medicine and establish her own unique personality. As Gopalrao’s fixation with Joshi’s education intensified, he sent her to the United States to study medicine together with Mrs Carpenter, a missionary from Philadelphia. She gave a speech in a public auditorium in 1883 prior to her voyage. She commented on the dearth of female doctors by offering herself up. Additionally, she pointed out that midwifery was insufficient in any case and that the teachers of these classes hold conservative beliefs. When Gopalrao became dissatisfied with her efforts, he eventually moved to America. She had finished her education and was a doctor when he got to Philadelphia.
At the age of 19, Anandibai started her medical training. Her health declined after she moved to America because of the harsh climate and strange food. She became ill with TB. In spite of this, she earned her MD in March 1886, with a thesis on “Obstetrics Among the Aryan Hindus.” Both Ayurvedic scriptures and American medical textbooks were cited in the thesis. Queen Victoria sent her a congratulations letter on her graduation.
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.
Before turning 22 in Pune, Anandibai passed away from TB early the next year on February 26, 1887. She had been worn down and weak for years before she died. She received medicine from America, but it had little effect, so she continued studying medicine until her death. India was in mourning upon her passing. Theodicia Carpenter received her ashes and interred them in the Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery in Poughkeepsie, New York, where her family is buried. According to the inscription, Anandi Joshi was a Hindu Brahmin girl who became the first Indian woman to study abroad and earn a medical degree.
