Poet, educator, activist Kamini Roy’s 155th birth anniversary commemorated with Google doodle

Born on 12 October 1864 in the village of Basanda, in the Bengal Presidency, Kamini Roy is known for many things — all of them pioneering: She was among the first girl students to have formal schooling in British India. She was among the first Indian women to graduate with Honours. And she would be counted among India’s earliest feminists.

Her father was a judge and member of the Brahmo Samaj, and all of his children would go on to fulfil illustrious professional roles. Kamini, a Math whiz who later pursued Sanskrit, excelled in the literary arts, publishing essays and poetry collections even as she taught at her alma mater, Bethune College. Alo O Chhaya, the first of her many books of poems, was published in 1889.

She was among the founding members of the Bangiya Nari Samaj, an organisation devoted to the cause of women’s suffrage. “Why should a woman be confined to home and denied her rightful place in society?” she wrote, in 1924.

A statement released by Google on Roy’s 155th birth anniversary (which has been commemorated with a special doodle) read:

By forming organisations to champion causes she believed in, Roy helped advance feminism on the Indian subcontinent. She also worked to help Bengali women win the right to vote in 1926. For her literary accomplishments, Kamini Roy was awarded the Jagattarini medal by Calcutta University in 1929.

Today’s Doodle celebrates the first woman to graduate with honors in the history of India, who went on to advocate for the rights of all women…

Here’s to Kamini Roy, a trailblazer who did not accept limitations.