Nov 22, 2017

Rukhmabai Raut’s 153rd Birthday

This Doodle’s Key Themes

Born on this day in Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1864, Rukhmabai Raut was one of the first women to practice medicine in colonial India. Backed by the British director of Bombay’s Cama Hospital, suffrage activists, and other supporters, Raut set off in 1889 for the the London School of Medicine for Women and obtained her qualifications at Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Brussels. She then joined a hospital in Surat, serving as chief medical officer the next 35 years.

As an activist, Raut fought to stamp out child marriage. Married at age 11 to a 19-year-old groom chosen by her mother, Raut refused to live with her husband, winding up at the center of one of India’s most famous 19th-century court cases. Her bravery in defying contemporary Indian social customs attracted scrutiny in the British press and led to the passage of the Age of Consent Act in 1891.

Today’s Doodle by illustrator Shreya Gupta shows the courageous doctor among her patients, doing the dedicated work of a skilled physician.

Early concepts and drafts of the Doodle below

Where this Doodle appeared

The Doodle Rukhmabai Raut’s 153rd Birthday launched Nov 22, 2017

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