Today's Google Doodle is Cornelia Sorabji. She was the first woman to read law at the Oxford University.
Born in Nashik, she was one of nine children of Reverend Sorabji Karsedji 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.
Cornelia Sorabji had five surviving sisters and a brother, and two more brothers that died in infancy. She spent her childhood initially in Belgaum and later in Pune. She received her education both at home and at mission schools.
She enrolled in Deccan College and claims to have topped the Presidency in her final degree examination, which would have entitled her to a government scholarship to study further in England. According to Sorabji, she was denied the scholarship, and instead took up a temporary position as a professor of English at a men's college in Gujarat.
After becoming the first female graduate of Bombay University, Sorabji wrote in 1888 to the National Indian Association for assistance in completing her education.
OneIndia News
