Susie Sorabji

Susie Sorabji followed her mother into educational work,^[4] and (despite lifelong frail health) traveled widely, attending international conferences,^[5] lecturing^[6] and meeting with potential donors,^[7] to raise awareness and funding for the girls' school in Pune.^[3] "I am pleading for my sisters, the gentlest, meekest, most neglected in the civilized world," she declared of her cause.^[8]

She started a kindergarten, and trained kindergarten teachers for work in other Indian schools. "I had to fight against the government inspector when I first started the kindergarten," she recalled, "but now the system has been made compulsory in the government schools."^[2] She also did literacy and missionary work among Indian women living in zenana spaces.^[9] She supported the temperance movement and Girl Guides of India,^[10] and, along with other members of her family, opposed the Indian independence movement and promoted support for the Empire and preserving the rule of the British Raj.^[11]

Susie Sorabji had chronic health issues, including vision problems which were treated with surgeries, medication, and extended periods of bandaging and rest.^[12] Sorabji died in 1931, aged 63 years. Her sister Cornelia Sorabji wrote a biographical memoir, Susie Sorabji, Christian-Parsee Educationist of Western India: A Memoir (London: Oxford University Press 1932).^[13] A street in Pune was named for Susie Sorabji in 1932.^[12]

There is a Susie Sorabji Auditorium at St. Helena High School in Pune, named in her memory.^[14] The school marks her death date (15 March) as its "Founder's Day", performing a play about her life and distributing food to local charity organizations.^[15]

There is a chapter of the Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire in Uxbridge, Ontario, named for Susie Sorabji.^[16]