Google on Wednesday paid tribute to India’s first female advocate Cornelia Sorabji on her 151st birth anniversary. Apart from this, Sorabji was also the first woman to graduate from the then Bombay University (now University of Mumbai).
Google on Wednesday paid tribute to India’s first female advocate Cornelia Sorabji on her 151st birth anniversary. Apart from this, Sorabji was also the first woman to graduate from the then Bombay University (now University of Mumbai).
Here are 10 things you must know about her
- She was one of nine children of Reverend Sorabji Karsedji, a missionary and his wife, Francina Ford,who had been adopted and raised by a British couple
- Her father was a missionary and Sorabji claims that he was a key figure in convincing Bombay University to admit women to their degree programs
- She enrolled in Deccan College, where she reportedly topped, but was not given a scholarship. She then took up a temporary position as a professor of English at a men's college in Gujarat.
- She was the first woman to graduate from Bombay University
- She was funded by several individuals, including Florence Nightingale to complete her education. She took the Bachelor of Civil Laws exam at Oxford, becoming the first woman to do so
- She returned to India and fought for the rights of widows who weren't allowed to communicate with the outside world
- She was not allowed to defend the women, as the legal system in British India at the time forbade her from doing so. She was formally recognised as a barrister after the law changed in 1923.
- In the next 20 years of service, it is estimated that Sorabji helped over 600 women and orphans fight legal battles, sometimes at no charge.
- Sorabji retired from the high court in 1929, and settled in London, visiting India during the winters.
- She died in 1954
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