Biography Report

UPS6001A

World Famous Philosophers,

Saint/Sages and Great Kings

BIOGRAPHY CHOSEN: ANANDI BAI JOSHI

NAME OF THE STUDENT: AKANKSHA KULKARNI

ROLL NO. OF THE STUDENT: 21MBA150

Submitted to Faculty member: Prof. Amruta Kulkarni

  History:

Anandibai Joshi was born as Yamuna in 1865 in Kalyan, Maharashtra. She was born in
a family where the family had previously been landlords before experiencing financial
losses. Because of pressure from her mother, she got married at the age of 9 to a
widower Gopalrao Joshi, who was 20 years older than her. After marriage, Yamuna’s
husband changed her name to ‘Anandi’. Gopalrao worked as a government clerk and
was a supporter of women’s education.

At the age of 14, Anandibai gave birth to a child but due to lack of medical care, the
child passed away just after ten days. This unfortunate incident proved to be a turning
point in her life. It inspired her to become a physician and help other women in similar
situations.

In 1886, Anandibai returned to India and was appointed as the physician-in-charge of

the female ward of the local Albert Edward Hospital, Kolhapur.
Before turning 23, on 26 February 1887, Anandibai died of tuberculosis. Her ashes
were sent to Theodicia Carpenter, who placed her ashes in her family cemetery in New
York.

 Her works:

Anandibai Joshi’s husband, Gopalrao Joshi encouraged her to study and the couple
moved to Calcutta where she learned to read and write in Sanskrit, as well as English.
After reading English and Sanskrit, Anandibai realized that ayurvedic knowledge and
midwifery was not nearly enough to help with complicated pregnancies and births.

The couple searched many institutes and colleges but there was no institute of western
medicine that accepted women in India. Then finally in 1880, Gopalrao sent a letter to
Royal Wilder, who was a well-known American missionary, stating his wife’s interest in
studying medicine in the United States. The letter was published in Princeton’s
Missionary Review where it caught the attention of a New Jersey resident Theodicia
Carpenter, who decided to help Anandibai. She wrote a letter to Anandi and Gopalrao
offering them accommodation in America.

Gopalrao couldn’t go but convinced Anandi to set an example in India by pursuing

higher education although Anandi was struggling with poor health conditions
frequently facing fever, headaches, weakness and breathlessness.

A physician couple named Thorborn suggested that Anandibai should apply to the
Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania hence she got enrolled in that college.

BIOGRAPHY REPORT PAGE 2

  Accomplishments:

Anandibai travelled to New York from Kolkata by ship, accompanied by English

missionary acquaintances of the Thorborns. Anandibai completed her medical training
at the age of 19.
In America, her health started declining because of the cold weather and irregular diet.
She was discovered to be suffering from tuberculosis.

In March 1886, Joshi graduated with an MD; the topic of her thesis was “Obstetrics
among the Aryan Hindus.” In her thesis, she covered information from Ayurvedic texts
and American textbooks. On her graduation, Queen Victoria sent her a message,
congratulating her for her success.

 Contributions to Mankind/society:
Dr. Anandibai Joshi is an Indian woman who has faced every difficulty for brightened
her future. She not only made her future but also opened many paths for the coming
generation and made it easy. This is the result of the hard work of her and other women
like these, that today we and other women of India are able to live their lives freely.

 Learnings from the character chosen:

 Queen Victoria sent her a congratulatory message. The Philadelphia Post wrote,
“Little Mrs. Joshi who graduated with high honors in her class, received quite an
ovation.”
 Dr Joshi lived a mere 21 years but achieved so much in that brief span that
a crater on Venus has been named in her honor.
 The Institute for Research and Documentation in Social Sciences (IRDS), a non-
governmental organization from Lucknow, has been awarding the Anandibai
Joshi Award for Medicine in honor of her early contributions to the cause of
advancing medical science in India
 On March 31, 2018, Google honored her with a Google Doodle to mark her 153rd
birth anniversary.

 Summary:
We can draw tremendous amount of inspiration from Anandibai’s life. Described below
are some of them each of us can carry.

1. Fight the struggle...

At the age of fourteen, Anandibai gave birth to a boy, but the child lived only for ten
days for lack of medical care. This proved to be a turning point in Anandi’s life and
inspired her to become a physician. Coming from an Orthodox society, lot of people

BIOGRAPHY REPORT PAGE 3

opposed her going to US and pursue medical degree. People made rude remarks and
gestures. They even threw stones at her. She was able to successfully influence
everyone around and travel all the way to United States.

In her application letter, Joshi after stating her credentials knew that it was inadequate
to enter the college and thus asked them to make an exception and consider her
purpose which was “to render to my poor suffering country women the true medical aid
they so sadly stand in need of and which they would rather die than accept at the hands
of a male physician.”

2. Patience, perseverance and dedication…

She proved that dreams and dedication are powerful combination and began her
medical training at the age of 19. In America, her health worsened because of the cold
weather and unfamiliar diet. She never got her enthusiasm down, although her health
wasn’t cooperative enough.

She was the first woman of Indian origin to study and graduate with a degree in
medicine from the United States.

She studied at the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania (WMCP), which is now
called Drexel University College of Medicine. Her dissertation was titled ‘Obstetrics
among the Hindu Aryans’.

3. Never give up...

Battling ill-health but determined to succeed, Joshi returned from America with
eagerness to take up the role of physician in charge of the female ward at Kolhapur’s
Albert Edward Hospital. She never gave up and always stood by her dreams and
aspirations till her last breath.

She died on 26 February 1887. Tuberculosis claimed her and the 21-year-old died
without a chance to practice medicine in her country. The entire country was shaken by
her death, and grand tributes were made to her life and work.

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