Married at 9, she lost her only son at 14. She braved being attacked with cow dung, stones to become India’s 1st certified female doctor in 1886

She did not live to be 22, but today, her name is immortalised on a planet. Anandibai Gopalrao Joshi was a trailblazer in many ways. She was the first certified Indian female doctor of Western medicine. She was also the first Indian woman to study medicine in the US.

A Child Bride At Nine

Anandibai Joshi was originally named Yamuna. She was born on March 31, 1865, in Kalyan and was the fifth child among nine siblings. Coming from a Marathi Chitpavan Brahmin household, she grew up within the social and cultural customs prevalent during that period. Following the conventions of the era and influenced by her mother, Yamuna was married when she was only nine years old. Her husband, Gopalrao Joshi, was a widower and was about two decades older than her.

She became a mother at 14, and her son passed away when he was just ten days old.

The Struggle For Success

While staying in Calcutta, in the Serampore area, Anandibai composed a heartfelt application seeking admission to the Medical College of Pennsylvania, an institution now known as Drexel University’s medical school. Around the same period, in 1880, her husband Gopalrao approached American missionary Royal Wilder through a letter, requesting assistance with arranging financial support for Anandibai’s medical education and finding suitable employment for himself. Wilder offered to help, but only if the couple agreed to embrace Christianity. Anandibai and Gopalrao firmly declined the condition.

Their decision to pursue education overseas also drew strong opposition in India. Among conservative sections of Hindu society, particularly orthodox caste communities, travelling across the sea was regarded as a violation of religious customs. According to an article published in The Print, the couple faced hostility from those around them, including abusive comments and harassment. Cow dung and stones were reportedly thrown at their home, while some people even gathered outside Gopalrao’s workplace to express their disapproval.

Anandibai understood that her existing educational background might not meet the college’s admission requirements. She therefore appealed to the institution to consider her unusual circumstances and the larger purpose behind her ambition to study medicine. She aimed to return with medical knowledge that could help Indian women who had limited access to professional healthcare, particularly because social conventions often prevented them from being treated by male doctors.

Although Wilder ultimately did not provide financial assistance, he helped bring attention to Anandibai’s appeal by publishing her letter in the Princeton Missionary Review. The account caught the attention of Theodocia Carpenter, an American woman who subsequently began corresponding with Anandibai. Carpenter developed a close connection with her and offered to provide accommodation and support after her arrival in America.

At just 19 years of age, Anandibai eventually undertook the long four-month voyage to New York without her husband. Once she reached the United States, Carpenter became her local guardian and helped her settle into her new surroundings. She studied medicine at the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, which was the second women's medical programme in the world.

Upon her graduation, Anandi was congratulated by England’s Queen Victoria. She also received an offer from the princely state of Kolhapur to be a physician and take charge of the women’s ward at the Albert Edward Hospital. However, Anandi could not start her career, as she contracted tuberculosis while leaving for India and breathed her last in 1887.

To honour her glorious milestones, a crater on Venus was named ‘Joshee’ in 1994.