Ansuyah Ratipul Singh (12 June 1917 – 27 November 1978) was a South African medical doctor and writer.

Early life and education

Ansuyah Ratipul Singh was born in

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

, the daughter of Chatrapul Ratipul Singh, an accountant, and Latchmee Singh. She attended the Durban Indian Girls' School. For medical school she went to the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

in 1936. She finished her degree in 1944, and returned to South Africa two years later."Ansuyah Ratipul Singh"
in ''South African History Online'' (2011). Later, in 1962, she also earned a diploma in Public Health from the

University of Natal The University of Natal was a university in the former South African province Natal which later became KwaZulu-Natal. The University of Natal no longer exists as a distinct legal entity, as it was incorporated into the University of KwaZulu- ...

Career

Singh opened a private practice in Durban. In time she worked at the University of Natal Medical School, specializing in family medicine, obstetrics, and gynaecology. She was also on staff at the Clairwood Hospital. She took charge of the obstetric clinic at King Edward VIII Hospital in 1959. She founded a series of clinics to serve poor patients. In 1956, she became the first Indian woman to be appointed to the Natal Provincial Administration.

Works

Her 1960 historical novel ''Behold the Earth Mourns'' is considered the first published novel by an Indian South African writer, and described by scholar

Antoinette Burton Antoinette M. Burton is an American historian, and professor of history and Bastian Professor of Global and Transnational Studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. On November 23, 2015, Burton was named Chair of the University of I ...

as "a critical history of anti-apartheid struggle." * *''Cobwebs in the Garden'' *''A Tomb for thy Kingdom'' *

Personal life

Singh married twice. She was briefly married in Great Britain, to Bronislav Sedzimer, during her medical school years. They had one daughter, Urvashi. She married again, to lawyer Ashwin Choudree, in 1948. Choudree was in leadership in the

Natal Indian Congress The Natal Indian Congress (NIC) was a political organisation established in 1894 to fight discrimination against Indians in the Natal Colony, and later the Natal Province, of South Africa. Founded by Mahatma Gandhi, it later served an importan ...

and the South African Indian Council. Singh was widowed when Choudree died in 1969. Statue of Ansuyah Ratipul Singh

Singh was a devotee of the arts: She was an accomplished pianist, and a talented amateur dramatist. She took part in many productions between 1948 and 1958, including

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...

's plays such as

Natir Puja ''Natir Puja'' ( English:the dancing girl's worship) is the only film where Rabindranath Tagore is credited as director. This film is a recording of Tagore's 1926 stage dance-drama of the same name. Background The dramatized version of Tagore ...

, a demanding role requiring acting and dancing skills. Singh died in 1978, aged 61 years.

Commemoration

She is commemorated by a bronze statue depicting her as

, the dancing girl in

Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...

's play of the same name. The statue is in the Amanzinyama Gardens in

oThongathi oThongathi, previously and still commonly known as Tongaat, is a town in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, about north of Durban and south of KwaDukuza. It now forms part of eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, or the Greater Durban area. The area ...

References

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Ansuyah Ratipul 1917 births 1978 deaths 20th-century South African women writers University of Natal alumni Women gynaecologists South African expatriates in the United Kingdom South African people of Indian descent