The Isabella Thoburn College, formerly the Lucknow Women's College and often called informally IT College, is a college for women in

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, named after its founder,

Isabella Thoburn Isabella Thoburn (March 29, 1840 – Sept. 1, 1901) was an American Christian missionary of the Methodist Episcopal Church best known for her establishment of educational institutions and missionary work in North India, subsequent to the East I ...

, the first woman

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

of the

Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself on a national basis. In ...

to sail in India 1869. The college was established in 1870 with just six girls on roll.

History

The origin of the college was in a school for girls opened by

on 18 April 1870 in one room in the city-centre

bazaar A bazaar () or souk (; also transliterated as souq) is a marketplace consisting of multiple small Market stall, stalls or shops, especially in the Middle East, the Balkans, North Africa and India. However, temporary open markets elsewhere, suc ...

There were then just six girls. By 1871, the school had expanded and moved to occupy a house named Lal Bagh, which had been lived in by the treasurer of the last

Nawab of Awadh The Nawab of Awadh or the Nawab of Oudh was the title of the rulers who governed the state of Awadh (anglicised as Oudh) in north India during the 18th and 19th centuries. The Nawabs of Awadh belonged to a dynasty of Persian origin from Nishapu ...

.College History
at itcollege.ac.in, accessed 22 April 2012 On 12 July 1886 Miss Thoburn's school was renamed as the Lucknow Women's College and began to teach

Fine Arts In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...

classes under the supervision of the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate State university (India), state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered ...

. In 1894, this connection was abandoned in favour of a new one with

Allahabad University , mottoeng = "As Many Branches So Many Trees" , established = , type = Public , chancellor = Ashish Chauhan , vice_chancellor = Sangita Srivastava , head_label ...

. Following the death of Miss Thoburn in 1901, the College, still at Lal Bagh, was given its present name in her honour. In 1923, it moved to the Chand Bagh estate of almost 32 acres, where it has remained until the present day. Chand Bagh means "Moon Garden". The property was once a royal garden. After its affiliation to Lucknow University it found requisite support and guidance from Nirmal Chandra Chaturvedi, a renowned educationist and member of the university Executive Council. The college's Principal

Sarah Chakko Sarah Chakko (13 February 1905 – 25 January 1954) was an Indian college professor and administrator, president of Isabella Thoburn College in Lucknow, and the first woman to be elected to the presidency of the World Council of Churches. She w ...

(1905–1954) was the first woman president of the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most juri ...

Present day

Isabella Thoburn College 2012 stamp of India

The College is now affiliated to

Lucknow University The University of Lucknow (informally known as Lucknow University, and LU) is a public state university based in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Founded in 1920, the University of Lucknow is one of the oldest government owned institutions of higher edu ...

. The buildings it has developed on the Chand Bagh campus since the 1920s include student hostels, lecture rooms, laboratories, a library, a college chapel and a large hall. The college teaches five undergraduate courses, leading to the degrees of

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

(BA),

Bachelor of Education A Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) is an undergraduate professional degree which prepares students for work as a teacher in schools. In some countries such as Tanzania and Kenya, additional tasks like field work and research are required in order for ...

(BEd),

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

(BSc),

Bachelor of Commerce A Bachelor of Commerce (abbreviated BComm or BCom; also, ''baccalaureates commercii'') is an undergraduate degree in business, usually awarded in Canada, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Ireland, New Zealand, Ghana, South Africa, Myanmar, ...

(BCom), and

Bachelor of Library and Information Science The bachelor of library science (or “bachelor of library and information science”) is a degree sometimes awarded to students majoring in library science. It is commonly abbreviated as “B.L.S.”, “B.Lib.”, or “B.L.I.S.”, often with t ...

(BLISc). There are also postgraduate courses leading to the degrees of

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

(MA),

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

(MSc),

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

(MBA) and to a Postgraduate Diploma in Healthcare and Hospital Management (PGDHHM). IT College, along with undergraduate and post graduate courses also offered intermediate classes. Eventually a separate college for intermediate level students was formed within the IT College campus. This building only houses classes for classes 11th and 12th, while the college level students study in the old college building. IT College, as it is called has hostel facilities for students as well as has a large number of day scholars. There are three hostels for the resident students, Naunihal, Nishat Mahal and Maitreyi Bhawan. On 12 April 2012 the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

issued a new five rupee

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...

illustrating the College.

Principals

*Isabella Thoburn *

*Dr. Eva Shipstone *Dr. Kamala D. Edwards *Ms. Mary Abraham *Dr. Adella Paul *Dr. E. S. Charles *Dr. Primrose H. Bodhan *Mrs. K. Sen *Dr. Vinita Prakash (Present)

Notable alumnae

Nabia Abbott Nabia Abbott (31 January 1897 – 15 October 1981) was an American scholar of Islam, papyrologist and paleographer. She was the first woman professor at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. She gained worldwide recognition for he ...

(31 January 1897 – 15 October 1981), Islamic scholar, papyrologist, paleographer at the

University of Chicago Oriental Institute The Oriental Institute (OI), established in 1919, is the University of Chicago's interdisciplinary research center for ancient Near Eastern ("Orient") studies and archaeology museum. It was founded for the university by professor James Henry Bre ...

Lilavati Singh Lilavati Singh (14 December 1868 – 9 May 1909), also seen as Lilivati Singh, was an Indian educator, professor of literature and philosophy at Isabella Thoburn College in Lucknow. Early life and education Lilavati Singh was born in Gorakhpur, ...

(December 14, 1868 – May 9, 1909), educator, also taught at the college *

Martha Chen Martha Chen (née Alter; born February 9, 1944) is an American academic, scholar and social worker, who is presently a lecturer in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and senior advisor of the global research-policy-action network WIEGO ...

(born 1944), American academic, lecturer in public policy at the

Harvard Kennedy School The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

Rashid Jahan Rashid Jahan (25 August 1905 – 29 July 1952) was an Indian writer and medical doctor known for her Urdu literature and trenchant social commentaries. She wrote short stories and plays and contributed to ''Angarey'' (1932), a collection of ...

(1905–1952),

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Isha Basant Joshi Isha Basant Joshi (born Isha Basant Mukand; 31 December 1908, date of death unknown) was an Indian Administrative Service officer and author. She published books under the name of Esha Joshi. She was the first Indian to be accepted into the "Bas ...

(born 1908), first female officer of the

Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. Considered the premier civil service of India, the IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services along with the Indian ...

and writer, also known by the pen name Easha JoshiRajeev Mullick (January 28, 2011
125 years of Isabella Thoburn College, Lucknow
''Hindustan Times''. Retrieved on 2018-12-03. *

Attia Hosain Attia Hosain (20 October 1913 – 25 January 1998) was a British-Indian novelist, author, writer, broadcaster, journalist and actor.''Distant Traveller'', new and selected fiction: edited by Aamer Hossein with Shama Habibullah, with forewo ...

(1913–1998), feminist author and broadcaster *

Ismat Chugtai Ismat Chughtai (21 August 1915 – 24 October 1991) was an Indian Urdu novelist, short story writer, liberal humanist and filmmaker. Beginning in the 1930s, she wrote extensively on themes including female sexuality and femininity, middle-class ...

(August 1915 – 24 October 1991), eminent Indian writer in Urdu *

Vijayaraje Scindia Vijaya Raje Scindia (12 October 1919 – 25 January 2001), born Lekha Divyeshwari Devi and known popularly as the Rajmata of Gwalior, was a prominent Indian political personality. In the days of the British Raj, as consort of the last ruling Ma ...

(1919–2001), politician, consort of the last ruling

Maharaja Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king". A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, an ...

Gwalior Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the s ...

Qurratulain Hyder Qurratulain Hyder (20 January 1927 – 21 August 2007) was an Indian Urdu novelist and short story writer, an academic, and a journalist. One of the most outstanding and influential literary names in Urdu literature, she is best known for ...

(1928–2007), novelist * Bina Rai (1936–2009), actress * Ma Prem Usha (1937-2008), clairvoyant and columnist *

Fatima Zakaria Fatima Zakaria (17 February 1936 – 6 April 2021) was the editor of the ''Mumbai Times'', and later the Sunday editor of ''The Times of India''. She also served as the editor of the ''Taj'' magazine of the Taj Hotels. Career In 1958, she estab ...

(1936-2021), former editor of the Bombay Times and Sunday editor of

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

*Dr. Mohini Giri, first chairperson of National Commission for Women in India *

Vartika Singh Vartika Brij Nath Singh is an Indian model and beauty pageant titleholder who was appointed as Miss Universe India 2019 and represented India at 68th edition of the Miss Universe pageant. She was previously crowned as Femina Miss India Femina ...

, model, Femina Miss India Grand International finalist 2015, second Runner Up *

Nivedita Bhattacharya Nivedita Bhattacharya (born 21 July 1970) is an Indian actress. She was born in Lucknow. She is an actress who has acted on television and in films. Filmography * ''Kya Kehna'' (2000) - Preity Zinta's sister-in-law * '' Darr @ the Mall'' (2 ...

, theatre and television actress

History

Present day

Principals

Notable alumnae

See also

References

Further reading