Dr Kadambini Ganguly: Google honours India’s 1st woman doctor with a doodle on her 160th birthday

July 18: Google Doodle celebrated Kadambini Ganguly’s 160th birthday with an illustration on July 18. Kadambini Ganguly was the first woman to be trained as a physician in India. Today’s Google Doodle, illustrated by Bengaluru-based guest artist Oddrija, features a sketch of Kadambini Ganguly in the backdrop of the Medical College Hospital. Ganguly was also one of the six women to form the first all-women delegation of the 1889 Indian National Congress.

Born in a Brahmo family in Chandsi, in Bengal’s Barisal district (now in Bangladesh) on July 18, 1861 Kadambini Basu along with Chandramukhi Basu, became the first female graduate in India, from Bethune College in Kolkata. After graduation, Kadambini decided to study medicine. Then not only the conservative society but also the teaching staff of the medical college started opposing her.

Kadambini passed her medical examination and became the first Indian women physician eligible to practice western medicine alongside Anandi Gopal Joshi in 1886. Kadambini travelled to England for further study in 1893 and earned a ‘triple diploma’ in a short time, LRCP (Edinburgh), LRCS (Glasgow), and GFPS (Dublin). Kadambini tied a knot with Dwarkanath Ganguly in 1883. She was a mother of eight children. She died on 7th October 1923.