36 Facts About Cornelia Sorabji

Cornelia Sorabji was an Indian lawyer, social reformer and writer.

Cornelia Sorabji was the first female graduate from Bombay University, and the first woman to study law at Oxford University.

Cornelia Sorabji became the first female advocate in India but would not be recognised as a barrister until the law which barred women from practising was changed in 1923.

Cornelia Sorabji was involved with several social service campaigning groups, including the National Council for Women in India, the Federation of University Women, and the Bengal League of Social Service for Women.

Cornelia Sorabji opposed the imposition of Western perspectives on the movement for women's change in India, and took a cautious approach to social reform, opposing rapid change.

Cornelia Sorabji believed that until all women were educated, political reform would not be of genuine lasting value.

Cornelia Sorabji supported the British Raj, and purdah for upper-caste Hindu women, and opposed Indian self-rule.

Cornelia Sorabji's views prevented her obtaining the support needed to undertake later social reforms.

Cornelia Sorabji authored multiple publications, which were influential in the early 20th century.

Cornelia Sorabji was born on 15 November 1866 in Nashik, in the Bombay Presidency, British India.

Cornelia Sorabji was one of ten children, and was named in honour of Lady Cornelia Maria Darling Ford, her adoptive grandmother.

Cornelia Sorabji's father, the Reverend Sorabji Karsedji, was a Christian missionary who had converted from Zoroastrianism, and Sorabji believed that she had been a key figure in convincing Bombay University to admit women to its degree programmes.

Cornelia Sorabji's mother's support for girls' education, and care for the local needy, was an inspiration for Cornelia Sorabji to advocate for women.

Cornelia Sorabji had five surviving sisters including educator and missionary Susie Cornelia Sorabji and medical doctor Alice Pennell, and one surviving brother; two other brothers died in infancy.

Cornelia Sorabji spent her childhood initially in Belgaum and later in Pune.

Cornelia Sorabji received her education both at home and at mission schools.

Cornelia Sorabji enrolled in Deccan College, as its first woman student, and received the top marks in her cohort for the final degree examination, which would have entitled her to a government scholarship to study further in England.

Cornelia Sorabji became the first female graduate of Bombay University, with a first-class degree in literature.

Cornelia Sorabji wrote in 1888 to the National Indian Association for assistance in completing her education.

Cornelia Sorabji arrived in England in 1889 and stayed with Manning and Hobhouse.

Cornelia Sorabji was the first woman to be admitted as a reader to the Codrington Library of All Souls College, Oxford, at Sir William Anson's invitation in 1890.

Cornelia Sorabji was given special permission to enter pleas on their behalf before British agents of Kathiawar and Indore principalities, but she was unable to defend them in court since, as a woman, she did not hold professional standing in the Indian legal system.

Cornelia Sorabji was the first female advocate in India, but would not be recognised as a barrister until the law which barred women from practising was changed in 1923.

Cornelia Sorabji began petitioning the India Office as early as 1902 to provide for a female legal advisor to represent women and minors in provincial courts.

In 1904, she was appointed Lady Assistant to the Court of Wards of Bengal and by 1907, due to the need for such representation, Cornelia Sorabji was working in the provinces of Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, and Assam.

In 1924, the legal profession was opened to women in India, and Cornelia Sorabji began practising in Calcutta.

Cornelia Sorabji retired from the high court in 1929, and settled in London, visiting India during the winters.

Cornelia Sorabji died at her home, Northumberland House on Green Lanes in Manor House, London, on 6 July 1954, aged 87.

Cornelia Sorabji took a circumspect approach to social reform, supporting the British Raj, purdah for upper-caste Hindu women, and opposing rapid reform, believing that until all women were educated, political reform would not provide "any real and lasting value".

Cornelia Sorabji opposed the imposition of Western women's perspectives on the movement for women's change in India.

Cornelia Sorabji was associated with the Bengal branch of the National Council of Women in India, the Federation of University Women, and the Bengal League of Social Service for Women.

Cornelia Sorabji believed that the true impetus behind social change was education and that until the majority of illiterate women had access to it, the suffrage movement would be a failure.

Cornelia Sorabji was a member of Bharat Stree Mahamandal which promoted girls education.

Cornelia Sorabji toured to propagate her political views; her publicised beliefs would end up costing her the support needed to undertake later social reforms.

Pallavi Rastogi, reviewing the autobiography India Calling, wrote the Cornelia Sorabji's life was "fraught with contradictions", as were those of others who were unable to reconcile Western and Indian ways of life.

Cornelia Sorabji contributed to a number of periodicals, including The Asiatic Review, The Times Literary Supplement, Atlantic Monthly, Calcutta Review, The Englishman, Macmillan's Magazine, The Statesman and The Times.