Anandi Gopal Joshi was the first woman from India who successfully finished medicine school. She had a degree in the United States in western medicine. Her original name was the Yamuna, she comes from Kalyan where she also got married at a young age. Her husband was great support for her with studying the medicine.
After a Royal Wilder, an American missionary read a letter about her, they posted it in Princeton’s Missionary Review. In 1883, notwithstanding her poor health, Anandi managed to go in the United States to study. She got her two-year medical degree at the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania.
Notable Facts About Anandi
It was unusual for a woman at that time in India to actually go to school at all, but Anandi Gopal Joshi managed to go even further, and get a degree in medicine, in the United States. The fact that she was only 18 years old is even more impressive.
Her interest in medicine started when she was 14, the reason for that is a loss of her baby, due to a lack of healthcare. Her husband was one of the fewer people who supported her since the Hindu community at that time were extremely orthodox.
Her achievement was a piece of worldwide news, and even Queen Victoria got that information. She sends a complimentary letter in response to Anandi. Her biggest dream was to open a medical school for women in India, but unfortunately, she died of tuberculosis in 1887, she was only 21 when she died. In 1997, for a 100-year anniversary, the International Astronomical Union gave a name to one of the craters on Venus after her.