Fatima Sheikh (9 January 1831 – 9 October 1900) was an Indian educator and social reformer, who was a colleague of the social reformers

Jyotirao Phule Jyotirao Govindrao Phule, also known as Mahatma Jyotiba Phule (11 April 1827 – 28 November 1890) was an Indian social activist, thinker, anti-caste social reformer and writer from Maharashtra. His work extended to many fields, including era ...

and

Savitribai Phule Savitribai Phule was an Indian social reformer, educationalist, and poet from Maharashtra. Along with her husband, in Maharashtra, she played an important and vital role in improving women's rights in India. She is considered to be the pioneer ...

She is widely considered to be India’s first Muslim woman teacher.

Biography

Fatima Sheikh was the sister of Mian Usman Sheikh, in whose house Jyotirao and Savitribai Phule took up residence. One of the first Muslim women teachers of modern India, she started educating Bahujan children in Phules' school. Jyotirao and Savitribai Phule along with Fatima Sheikh took charge of spreading education among the downtrodden communities. Sheikh met Savitribai Phule while both were enrolled at a teacher training institution run by

Cynthia Farrar Cythia Farrar (April 20, 1795, Marlborough, New Hampshire – January 25, 1862, Ahmednagar, India) was one of the first unmarried American women sent overseas as a missionary. She lived and worked in India from 1827 until her death in 1862. E ...

, an American missionary. She taught at all five schools that the Phules went on to establish and she taught children of all religions and castes. Sheikh took part in the founding of two schools in Mumbai (Then Bombay) in 1851.

In popular culture

On 9 January 2022,

Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...

honoured Fatima Sheikh with a doodle on her 191st birth anniversary.

References

External links

''Why Indian history has forgotten Fatima Sheikh but remembers Savitribai Phule''
– article from

ThePrint The Print is an Indian online newspaper, owned by Printline Media Pvt Ltd. It was launched by journalist Shekhar Gupta in August 2017. History Printline Media Pvt. Ltd, founded by journalist Shekhar Gupta, was incorporated in New Delhi, India ...

19th-century Indian educators 19th-century Indian Muslims Jyotirao Phule People from Maharashtra Founders of Indian schools and colleges 1831 births Year of death missing {{edu-bio-stub