Francina Ford Sorabji (''

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

'' Santya; 1833 — October 24, 1910) was an Indian educator.

Early life

Francina Santya was born to a family in southern India, and converted from

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

and lived with Christian missionaries as a young girl. She was adopted at age twelve by a British couple, Sir Francis Ford, Baronet, and his wife Cornelia Maria, Lady Ford (née Darling).Richard Sorabji
''Opening Doors: The Untold Story of Cornelia Sorabji, Reformer, Lawyer and Champion of Women's Rights in India''
(Penguin Books India 2010): 8-16. Her adoptive mother's father was

Sir Ralph Darling General Sir Ralph Darling, GCH (1772 – 2 April 1858) was a British Army officer who served as Governor of New South Wales from 1825 to 1831. He is popularly described as a tyrant, accused of torturing prisoners and banning theatrical entertai ...

, the British army officer who became a controversial Governor of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Career

Francina Sorabji founded the Victoria High School for girls at

Poona Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

, at first in her own home, and later in a separate stone building. The school was co-educational and enrolled all ages from young children to college-aged youth. At its peak Victoria High School counted a student body of 400. Her own daughters were among the first students. She founded two other schools in Poona: one with teaching in

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

for Hindu children, and one with teaching in

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

She encouraged her students, and her seven daughters, into high education and professions, including law, medicine, and midwifery. Francina Sorabji also ran a teacher-training program. She went to England to fundraise for her work in Poona in 1886, and testified before a British commission on education in India. She fostered orphans and welcomed widows and their children into her household. During an outbreak of plague in 1896, she helped to introduce preventive public health and sanitation practices in villages near Poona.

Personal life

Francina Ford married Sorabji Karsedji, a

Parsi Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim conq ...

Christian missionary, in 1853. Two of their children died in infancy; their seven surviving children included lawyer

Cornelia Sorabji Cornelia Sorabji (15 November 1866 – 6 July 1954) was an Indian lawyer, social reformer and writer. She was the first female graduate from Bombay University, and the first woman to study law at Oxford University. Returning to India after her ...

, educator

Susie Sorabji Susie Sorabji (1868 – 15 March 1931) was an Indian educator and Christian missionary. Early life Sorabji was born in Sholapur, Maharashtra, one of the seven daughters of Reverend Sorabji Karsedji, a Parsi Christian missionary, and Francina ...

, and medical doctor

Alice Maude Sorabji Pennell Alice Maude Sorabji Pennell OBE (July 17, 1874 – March 7, 1951) was an Indian physician and writer. She was the daughter and wife of Christian missionaries, and the first woman in India to earn a bachelor of science degree. Early life Alice Mau ...

. Francina Ford Sorabji was widowed in 1894, retired to

Nashik Nashik (, Marathi: aːʃik, also called as Nasik ) is a city in the northern region of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Situated on the banks of river Godavari, Nashik is the third largest city in Maharashtra, after Mumbai and Pune. Nashik ...

in 1906, and died in 1910, aged 77 years.Correspondence and papers of and concerning Cornelia Sorabji's mother Francina Sorabji, mainly about her death and funeral in 1910
British Library. Philosopher Sir

Richard Sorabji Sir Richard Rustom Kharsedji Sorabji, (born 8 November 1934) is a British historian of ancient Western philosophy, and Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at King's College London. He has written his 'Intellectual Autobiography' in his ''Festschrift' ...

is her grandson.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sorabji, Francina 1833 births 1910 deaths Indian women educators Converts to Christianity from Hinduism