Motibai Kapadia
Indian physician (1867–1930)
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Motibai Rustomji Kapadia LRCP FRCS (1867–1930) was an Indian doctor who is credited as the first Indian female physician in Western medicine to have trained alongside men in India. In 1884, she gained admission to Grant Medical College, Mumbai, from where she graduated. After gaining her Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians (LRCP) she was appointed to head the Victoria Jubilee Hospital for women in Ahmedabad. In 1891, she qualified FRCS.
Motibai Kapadia | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1867 Bombay, Bombay Presidency, British India |
| Died | 1930 (aged 62–63) |
| Education | Grant Medical College, Mumbai |
| Known for | First Indian female graduate of Grant Medical College |
| Medical career | |
| Profession | Physician |
| Institutions | Victoria Jubilee Hospital for women, Ahmedabad, Bombay Presidency |
| Awards | Kaisar-i-Hind Medal (1911) |
In 1911, Kapadia received the Kaisar-i-Hind Medal in the 1911 Delhi Durbar Honours following the Coronation of George V and Mary.
Early life and education
Motibai Kapadia was born in 1867 in Mumbai, then Bombay, into a wealthy Parsi family.[1][2] In 1884, despite opposition from several people she knew,[3] Kapadia gained admission to Mumbai's Grant Medical College through the Dufferin Fund.[1][4][a] There, her father allowed her to study alongside men.[3] She graduated in 1887 and then worked at the Cama Hospital for a year.[6] In 1888 she travelled to England and received the LRCP, along with Rattonbai Malabari.[1][4]
Career
In 1889, after returning from Britain, the industrialist Ranchhodlal Chhotalal appointed Kapadia in charge of his newly established Victoria Jubilee Hospital and its dispensary in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, then in Bombay Presidency.[2][5][7] There, she was a well-known lady doctor,[8] who accomplished good work,[9] and remained in that post for 36 years.[10] In 1891, she qualified FRCS.[3] In Ahmedabad, she lived in a street somewhere between Kalupur and Khadia.[11] In 1897, she was chosen to represent the Ladies Club at Ahmedabad to deliver the draft English address in preparation for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria.[12][13]
Kapadia later travelled back to Britain, after which she returned to India on the SS Devanha in 1921.[14] According to Canadian educator Geraldine Forbes, Western medicine expanded in Bengal as a result of hospital assistants who trained in that field by physicians from Bombay that included Kapadia.[15]
Death and legacy
On 12 December 1911, Kapadia received the Kaisar-i-Hind Medal in the 1911 Delhi Durbar Honours following the Coronation of George V and Mary.[16][17] Kapadia died in 1930.[2] She has been credited with being the first Indian female physician in Western medicine to have trained alongside men in India.[18] Historian Makrand Mehta credits Kapadia as a significant influencer of Gujarat.[2] Author Kavitha Rao considered Kapadia notable enough to be included in her book Lady Doctors, though omitted her due to being unable to find enough archival material on her.[19]