Who Was Cornelia Sorabji? The Trailblazer Who Paved The Way For Women In Indian Law

Long before women leading the courtroom became a new normal, Cornelia Sorabji paved the way for Indian women not only in court but also in every other field. She achieved a huge milestone of becoming the first female graduate from Bombay University, and the first woman to study law at Oxford University at a time when women pursing a career was looked down upon.

Who was Cornelia Sorabji?

Born on 15 November 1866 in Nashik, Cornelia Sorabji received the name 'Cornelia' in  honour of Lady Cornelia Maria Darling Ford, her adoptive grandmother, and was one of the children to be named that. Her father, the Reverend Sorabji Karsedji, was a Christian missionary who had converted from Zoroastrianism. Meanwhile, her mother, Francina Ford, was adopted by a British couple at the age of 12.

It was her mother's support and inspiration that led Cornelia to advocate for women's education. She received her education both at home and at mission schools and later enrolled in Deccan College, as its first woman student. She received a government scholarship due to her good score but was reportedly denied it.

She arrived in England in 1889 and later was given special permission by Congregational Decree, due in large part to the petitions of her English friends, to take the post-graduate Bachelor of Civil Law exam at Somerville College, Oxford, becoming the first woman to ever do so. Not only that, but she was also 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.

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What were Cornelia Sorabji’s contributions to Indian education for women?

She returned to India in 1894 and became involved in social and advisory work on behalf of the purdahnashins, women who were forbidden to communicate with the outside male world. She gained permission to enter pleas on their behalf before British agents of Kathiawar and Indore principalities. Unfortunately, she was unable to defend them in court since, as a woman, she did not hold professional standing in the Indian legal system.

In 1902, she began petitioning the India Office to provide for a female legal advisor to represent women and minors in provincial courts. Two years later, she was appointed Lady Assistant to the Court of Wards of Bengal. In her 20 years of service, it is estimated that Sorabji helped over 600 women and orphans fight legal battles, sometimes at no charge.

In 1923, the legal profession was opened to women in India, and Sorabji began practising in Calcutta. Even though Sorabji was praised for her support for women's education and reform, she was criticised for her support towards British empire. 

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Cornelia Sorabji was not just India's first woman lawyer, she was the woman who changed the idea of who could enter a courtroom.

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