In 19th-century British India, when women couldn’t even vote, study, or speak freely, Kadambini Ganguly dared to become a doctor.
Raised in Barisal, she was inspired by her father, a reformer who co-founded India’s first women’s organisation back in 1863.
That spark lit a fire, and she turned it into a life of firsts. She became the first woman from her school to take the Calcutta University entrance exam in 1878, and one of British India’s first two female graduates.
Marriage didn’t hold her back — it gave her wings. With her husband’s support, she chased medicine head-on, undeterred by society’s taunts.
When Calcutta Medical College shut its doors on her, Kadambini flung them open with legal action.
In 1886, she made history. Kadambini became one of the first Indian women licensed to practice Western medicine, alongside Anandi Gopal Joshi.
But she didn’t stop there. In 1892, she sailed to the UK, earning further medical certifications in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Dublin, before returning to run her own practice in India.
Doctor by profession, activist by choice, she even fought for female coal miners, and in 1890, was part of the first female delegation at the Indian National Congress.
In 1915, she took the stage at a national medical conference and called out the exclusion of women from medical colleges, head-on.
Even in death, she chose service. On 7th October 1923, Kadambini passed away just 15 minutes after returning from a house call. She never refused a patient.