From Child Bride to Trailblazing Doctor: The Unyielding Journey of Haimabati Sen

Haimabati Sen was one of the first women to practice medicine in India. Born in 1866 in the Khulna district of Bengal Presidency (now in Bangladesh), she was the eldest child in a Kulin Kayastha family. Her father, a zamindar, permitted her to wear male attire and receive education alongside her male cousins, an uncommon practice for girls at the time. 

Struggles and Pursuit of Education

Haimabati was married at the tender age of nine to a 45-year-old widower, a Deputy Magistrate with two daughters nearly her own age. The marriage was short-lived; her husband died of pneumonia within months, leaving her a child widow.  Following the deaths of her father, mother, and mother-in-law, she faced familial betrayal, losing claims to both her father's and husband's properties.

Seeking independence, Haimabati moved to Varanasi, where she taught at a girls' school. Her experiences during this period exposed her to the systemic challenges faced by women, especially widows, in Indian society. Determined to break societal barriers, Haimabati pursued medical education at the Campbell Medical College in Calcutta.

Despite excelling academically, she faced gender-based discrimination. When she topped her class, male students protested her receiving the gold medal. To quell the unrest, authorities offered her silver medals and a monthly stipend instead.  

After graduating in 1894, Haimabati served at the Lady Dufferin Women's Hospital in Hooghly until 1910. She then established a private practice in Chinsurah, where she continued her medical services until she died in 1933. Throughout her career, she remained an advocate for women's health and education, challenging prevailing patriarchal norms.  

The Legacy That Outlived Her 

When Haimabati passed away in 1933, her story was not in textbooks. But today, she is being remembered not just for her degrees or her clinic, but for her fight. In an age when women were seen as burdens, she treated them as humans. In a time when silence was demanded, she chose to write. Her life asks something of us even now: What does it mean to live with integrity in a system designed to erase you? And how do you turn personal pain into public purpose?

In the 1920s, Haimabati penned her memoirs, detailing her life's journey and the systemic oppression faced by women in 19th-century India. These writings, forgotten for decades, were rediscovered and published in 2000, offering invaluable insights into the era's societal dynamics. From a child bride to a pioneering physician, she navigated and challenged the rigid structures of her time, leaving an enduring legacy in the annals of Indian history.