Motibai Rustomji Kapadia (1867–1930) was an Indian doctor who is credited as the first Indian female physician in Western medicine to have trained alongside men in India. In 1884, she gained admission to

Grant Medical College The Grant Government Medical College is a public university, public medical school, medical college located in Mumbai, India. It is affiliated to the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences. Founded in 1845, it is one of the oldest medical co ...

, Mumbai, from where she graduated. After gaining her

Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians of London, commonly referred to simply as the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of p ...

(LRCP) she was appointed to head the Victoria Jubilee Hospital for women in

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...

. In 1891, she qualified

FRCS Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons (FRCS) is a professional certification, professional qualification to practise as a senior surgeon in Republic of Ireland, Ireland or the United Kingdom. It is bestowed on an wikt:intercollegiate, ...

. In 1911, Kapadia received the

Kaisar-i-Hind Medal The Kaisar-i-Hind Medal for Public Service in India was a medal awarded by the Emperor/Empress of India between 1900 and 1947, to "any person without distinction of race, occupation, position, or sex ... who shall have distinguished himself (o ...

in the

1911 Delhi Durbar Honours The 1911 Delhi Durbar was held in December 1911 following the coronation in London in June of that year of King George V and Queen Mary. The King and Queen travelled to Delhi for the Durbar. For the occasion, the statutory limits of the members ...

following the

Coronation of George V and Mary The coronation of George V and his wife, Mary, as king and queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions took place at Westminster Abbey, London, on Thursday 22 June 1911. This was the second of four such events held during the ...

Early life and education

Motibai Kapadia was born in 1867 in Mumbai, then Bombay, into a wealthy

Parsi The Parsis or Parsees () are a Zoroastrian ethnic group in the Indian subcontinent. They are descended from Persian refugees who migrated to the Indian subcontinent during and after the Arab-Islamic conquest of Iran in the 7th century, w ...

family. In 1884, despite opposition from several people she knew, Kapadia gained admission to Mumbai's

through the

Dufferin Fund The Countess of Dufferin Fund was established by Hariot Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava, more commonly known as Lady Dufferin, in 1885 and was dedicated to improving women's healthcare in India. The Fund was founded after ...

. There, her father allowed her to study alongside men. She graduated in 1887 and then worked at the Cama Hospital for a year. In 1888 she travelled to England and received the

LRCP The Royal College of Physicians of London, commonly referred to simply as the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of p ...

, along with Rattonbai Malabari.

Career

Dr Motibai Rustomji Kapadia Public Hall for Women

In 1889, after returning from Britain, the industrialist

Ranchhodlal Chhotalal Ranchhodlal Chhotalal, Rai Bahadur
"Memoir of Rao Bahadur Ranchhodlal Chhotalal, C ...

appointed Kapadia in charge of his newly established Victoria Jubilee Hospital for women, Victoria Jubilee Hospital and its dispensary in

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

, then in Bombay Presidency. There, she was a well-known lady doctor, who accomplished good work, and remained in that post for 36 years. In 1891, she qualified

. In Ahmedabad, she lived in a street somewhere between

Kalupur Kalupur is a central area in Ahmedabad, the financial centre of Gujarat, India. Geography It is located at . Location Kalupur is the central part of Ahmedabad city. Kalupur Bus Station runs buses to all major destinations in Ahmedabad city. T ...

and Khadia. In 1897, she was chosen to represent the Ladies Club at Ahmedabad to deliver the draft English address in preparation for the

Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria was officially celebrated on 22 June 1897 to mark the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Queen Victoria's accession on 20 June 1837. Queen Victoria was the first British monarch ever to celebrate a Diamond ...

.India Office Library and Records. �
Report on Native Papers for the Week Ending June 19, 1897.
�� Report on Native Papers for the Week Ending ..., 19 June 1897. https://jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25636183. Kapadia later travelled back to Britain, after which she returned to India on the SS ''Devanha'' in 1921. According to Canadian educator

Geraldine Forbes Geraldine Hancock Forbes is a Canadian-born educator, writer, and Distinguished Teaching Professor Emerita, State University of New York Oswego. Biography Geraldine Forbes earned her B.Ed. degree from the University of Alberta, and her master ...

, Western medicine expanded in Bengal as a result of hospital assistants who trained in that field by physicians from Bombay that included Kapadia.

Death and legacy

On 12 December 1911, Kapadia received the

in the

following the

. Kapadia died in 1930. She has been credited with being the first Indian female physician in Western medicine to have trained alongside men in India. Historian Makrand Mehta credits Kapadia as a significant influencer of Gujarat. Author

Kavitha Rao Kavitha Rao is a writer, journalist and former lawyer. Her books include ''Lady Doctors'' (2021). Biography Kavitha Rao was born in Bangalore, India, and grew up in the UK, Iran and Bahrain. She studied arts and law at the National Law School of ...

considered Kapadia notable enough to be included in her book '' Lady Doctors'', though omitted her due to being unable to find enough archival material on her.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kapadia, Motibai 1867 births 1930 deaths Parsi women Parsi people Recipients of the Kaisar-i-Hind Medal 19th-century Indian women medical doctors 20th-century Indian women medical doctors