Kamala Sohonie: First Indian Woman with a Science PhD

C.V. Raman refused to let her study at his institute. She sat outside his office until he explained why, in writing.

mcqquestion.com

Science & Technology · SciTech0064

Kamala Sohonie

First Indian woman with a science PhD (1911–1998)

18 Jun 1911

Born. Later tops her BSc merit list at Bombay University in 1933.

1933

C.V. Raman refuses her IISc admission. She protests until he admits her, on probation.

1939

Earns her PhD from Cambridge, in just 14 months — a first for an Indian woman.

28 Jun 1998

Dies in New Delhi, aged 87.

Cambridge supervisorFrederick Gowland Hopkins

PhD thesis time14 months

Later awardRashtrapati Award (neera research)

One Fight, Open Doors

Her probationary year at IISc wasn’t just about her own admission. Her work impressed Raman enough that he began admitting women into the institute generally, afterward.

mcqquestion.com · Science and Technology

Timeline

• 18 June 1911: Kamala Sohonie is born.
• 1933: She tops the merit list with a BSc in Chemistry and Physics, from Bombay University.
• 1933: C.V. Raman, Director of IISc Bangalore, refuses her MSc admission. She protests, and is admitted on probation.
• 1936: She completes her MSc at IISc.
• 1939: She earns her PhD from Cambridge University, becoming the first Indian woman to earn a science PhD.
• 28 June 1998: She dies in New Delhi, aged 87.

Must Know

• Kamala Sohonie became the first Indian woman to earn a PhD in a scientific discipline (biochemistry), in 1939.
• She was born on 18 June 1911.
• In 1933, IISc Director C.V. Raman initially refused her admission to the MSc programme, because she was a woman.
• She protested outside his office until he admitted her, though only on strict probationary conditions.
• Her PhD research, completed at Cambridge University in just 14 months, studied plant tissue enzymes, particularly cytochrome c.

Good to Know

• Raman set three conditions for her probationary admission. Her first year would not count as regular study. She had to work whenever her supervisor needed her, at any hour. And her presence could not distract other students.
• After a year, her work quality impressed Raman enough that he ended her probation. He then began admitting women into IISc more generally, a door that had been shut before her.
• She completed her MSc at IISc in 1936, then won a scholarship to Cambridge University in 1937.
• At Cambridge, she studied under Frederick Gowland Hopkins, a Nobel laureate biochemist known for discovering vitamins.
• Later in her career, she researched “neera,” a palm-sap drink. She showed it was rich in Vitamin C and other nutrients, valuable for malnourished tribal children and pregnant women. She received the Rashtrapati Award for this work.

Test Yourself

Please wait…

1. Kamala Sohonie is known as the first Indian woman to achieve what?

A seat in Parliament

A Nobel Prize

A Test cricket century

A PhD in a scientific discipline

 Loading…

 

Great to Know

• Sohonie’s story is a rare case where a personal fight for access became structural change. Her individual admission fight reshaped IISc’s policy toward women generally, not just her own case.
• Completing her doctoral thesis in just 14 months, faster than most students, is often cited as a direct rebuttal to the very doubts that had first kept her out of IISc.
• Her later career shift toward practical nutrition science, like the neera research, shows a pattern common among early Indian women scientists. They often applied rigorous lab training to problems with direct public-health relevance, not just theoretical research.