At 19, Anandibai Joshi boarded a ship bound for New York, embarking on a journey across the ocean and into medical history. She left behind a society where a woman travelling overseas could be accused of violating religious customs, and a life that had already demanded more than most women her age could imagine.
Anandibai Gopalrao Joshi was the first woman from India to earn a medical degree in the US, graduating from the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1886. Born Yamuna on March 31, 1865, in Kalyan to a Marathi Chitpavan Brahmin family, she was married at nine to Gopalrao Joshi, a widower around two decades older, who renamed her Anandibai. By 14, she became a mother, but her infant son survived for only ten days.
This loss became a turning point. At a time when social conventions prevented Indian women from being treated by male doctors, she saw medical education as a way to address the lack of healthcare available to women. She wanted to study medicine abroad and return to treat women who had little access to professional care.
While living in Calcutta, Anandibai applied to the Medical College of Pennsylvania. Gopalrao approached American missionary Royal Wilder for financial help, but when Wilder conditioned aid on converting to Christianity, they refused. Conservative sections of Hindu society viewed overseas travel as a violation of religious customs, and the couple faced hostility, including stones and cow dung being thrown at their home.
Anandibai persisted. She appealed directly to the institution, explaining her ambition and larger purpose. Wilder published her appeal in the Princeton Missionary Review, catching the attention of Theodocia Carpenter, who offered accommodation and support in America. After a four-month voyage, Anandibai arrived in New York and enrolled in Philadelphia.
In 1886, she graduated with a medical degree. Queen Victoria sent a congratulatory message, and the princely state of Kolhapur offered her a position as physician-in-charge of the women’s ward at Albert Edward Hospital.
Tragically, Anandibai contracted tuberculosis while returning to India and died in February 1887, just short of her 22nd birthday. In Lady Doctors, author Kavitha Rao profiles Anandibai as an essential pioneer: “Anandibai was a no-brainer... There has been quite a lot written about her, but I still feel that she needed to be profiled because she was the first. At that time, it was a big deal.”
In 1994, a crater on Venus was named Joshee in her honour. Her life lasted barely two decades, but her impact lives on.
