Cornelia Sorabji was a trailblazing Indian lawyer, reformer, and author who achieved several historic milestones for women in the legal profession. Born in 1866, she became the first female graduate of Bombay University and subsequently the first woman to study law at Oxford University. Upon returning to India, she dedicated herself to advocating for purdahnashins—women living in secluded quarters who were forbidden from communicating with the outside male world. Because women were barred from professional legal standing, she initially could not represent them in court, prompting her to take the Bombay University LLB exam in 1897 and the Allahabad High Court pleader's exam in 1899. She eventually became India's first female advocate, though she was not formally recognized as a barrister until legal restrictions were lifted in 1923.\n\nBeyond her legal practice, Sorabji was an active social reformer and a prolific writer. She worked with organizations such as the National Council for Women in India, the Federation of University Women, and the Bengal League of Social Service for Women. Her social and political views were complex; she advocated for women's education as a prerequisite for meaningful political reform but opposed rapid social change and the imposition of Western perspectives on Indian society. Notably, she supported the British Raj and the preservation of purdah for upper-caste Hindu women, while opposing Indian self-rule—stances that ultimately alienated her from mainstream nationalist movements and limited her later reform efforts. Throughout her career, she authored multiple influential publications that shaped early 20th-century discourse on Indian women and society.
