Google doodle celebrates India's first female Dr Kadambini Ganguly

Google's famous doodle is known for celebrating personalities who have contributed to the societal cause and helped us develop and evolve as a whole.

On Sunday (July 18), Google celebrated the life and work of Dr Kadambini Ganguly, the first woman to be trained as a physician in India. Ganguly, who was born in 1861 in Bhagalpur British India, now called Bangladesh was also the first woman to get admission to Calcutta Medical College, from which she graduated in 1886. 

Illustrated by Bengaluru based guest artist Oddrija, today's Google doodle marks the 160th birthday of Ganguly and sheds light on her exemplary work to uplift Indian women throughout the country. She worked through both medical service and activism in India’s women’s rights movement. She was also one of the six women to form the first all-women delegation of the 1889 Indian National Congress.

Being a woman and getting admission into Calcutta Medical College at the time was a scary task and not an easy one but she did it anyway. Ganguly and Anandibai Joshi, who hailed from Mumbai, both obtained their degrees in medicine back in 1886, thus getting recognized as the first female doctors in India. Later, she went on to pursue three additional doctoral certifications with a specialization in gynaecology. After returning to India in the 1890s, she started her own private clinic. 

Ganguly was married to a professor and activist Dwarkanath Ganguly, who encouraged her to pursue her dreams. 

"Prothoma Kadambini", the biographical television series in 2020 was based on Ganguly’s life.