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Trailblazing Surgeon Kadambini Ganguly Breaks Barriers in 1880s Calcutta
17 Nov
Summary
- First woman to study medicine at Calcutta Medical College in 1883
- Became one of the first female medical graduates in the British Empire by 1886
- Took a newspaper editor to court and won a defamation case for calling her "notorious"
In November 2025, the trailblazing journey of Kadambini Ganguly, India's first woman surgeon, continues to inspire. In 1883, Ganguly made history when she applied to Calcutta Medical College, a place where no woman had ever studied before. Despite facing fierce opposition from professors and an all-male student body, Ganguly persisted, and public pressure forced the college to admit her.
Even after Ganguly entered the classroom, the resistance did not end. Some professors refused to teach her, but the college administration eventually intervened, ensuring she was treated like any other student. By 1886, Ganguly completed her medical training, becoming one of the first female medical graduates in the British Empire.
Ganguly later traveled to the UK for advanced training, earning multiple medical qualifications. She returned to India to practice as a gynecologist and surgeon, defying Victorian-era expectations of how a woman should behave. One of the most famous episodes from her life came not from the operating theater, but from a newspaper office. A conservative Bengali newspaper published an article labeling her a "notorious woman" simply because she was a working female doctor who treated male patients. Ganguly did not back down, taking the editor to court and winning a landmark defamation case, setting a rare precedent for women fighting slander in the late 19th century.
