Chandramukhi Basu

Chandramukhi Bose ( Bengali চন্দ্রমুখী বসু Candramukhī Basu ; born 1860 in Dehradun ; died on February 3, 1944 in Dehradun), a Christian Bengali who lived in the (then called) United Provinces of Agra and Oudh in India , was in 1882 one of the first two female college graduates in the British Empire . Together with Kadambini Ganguly , she passed the examination for the bachelor's degree in art at the University of Kolkata , India in 1882 . In addition, she was the first director of an academic institution in the British Empire. From 1888 to 1891 she directed Bethune College .

Life

Bose's father is known as Bhuban Mohan Bose. In 1880 she passed the First Arts exam at the Dehradun Native Christian School. Non-Hindu girls were not admitted to the Bethune School at the time, where she wanted to study. She therefore had to study at the First Arts level (FA) in the Free Church Institution of the Reverend Alexander Duff (now the Scottish Church College ).

In 1876, because of her gender, she had to be granted a special permit for the F.A. Examination. She was the only girl who showed up for the exam that year. Although she was top of the class, the school held a series of meetings to decide whether its results could be published. Even before Kadambini Ganguly, Bose had passed her entrance exam in 1876, despite the university refusing to enroll her as a successful candidate.

It was not until the changed statutes of the university in 1878 that it allowed her to continue studying. Their formal degrees were presented when the university was convened in 1883. After she passed her F.A. exam, she moved to Bethune College with Kadambini Ganguly. At the time of her graduation in 1884, she was the only and first woman to receive an MA from the University of Calcutta and the first female university graduate in the British Empire.

Two of her sisters, Bidhumukhi and Bindubasini, also successfully completed a university education after her. Bidhumukhi Bose and Virginia Mary Mitra (Nandi), who graduated in 1890, were among the first female medical graduates at Calcutta Medical College. Bindubasini Bose graduated from Calcutta Medical School in 1891.

Act

Chandramukhi Bose began teaching at Bethune College (which was still part of Bethune School) in 1886. The college was separated from the school in 1888, and she became principal that year. This made her the first female head of an academic institution for undergraduate courses (today: Bachelor courses) in South Asia.

She retired in 1891 due to poor health and lived the rest of her life in Dehradun.

further reading

• Rachana Chakraborty: Bethune College . In: Sirajul Islam, Ahmed A. Jamal: Banglapedia. National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, 2012. Link to website

Web links

• History of Scottish Church College

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Chandramukhi Basu . In: Subodh Chandra Sengupta and Anjali Bose (eds.): Sansad Bangali Charitabhidhan (Biographical Lexicon) . 4th edition. tape 1 . Sahitya Samsad, Calcutta 1998, ISBN 978-81-85626-65-9 , p. 152 (Bengali).
2. ^ College History - Scottish Church College Kolkata. In: scottishchurch.ac.in. Scottish Church College Kolkata, accessed August 20, 2020 . 
3. ↑ Mausumi Manna: Women's Education through Co-Education: the Pioneering College 175th Year Commemoration Volume . Ed .: Scottish Church College. Kolkata 2008, p. 108 .
4. ↑ Bidhumukhi Bose; Bindubasini Bose . In: Anjali Bose (ed.): Sansad Bangali Charitabhidhan (Biographical Lexicon) . tape II . Sahitya Samsad, Calcutta 2004, ISBN 978-81-7955-292-6 , p. 215, 219 .