Susie Sorabji (1868 – 15 March 1931) was an Indian educator and Christian missionary.

Early life

Sorabji was born in

Sholapur Solapur () is a city located in the south-western region of the Indian state of Maharashtra, close to its border with Karnataka. Solapur is located on major highway, rail routes between Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Hyderabad, with a branch lin ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

, one of the seven daughters of Reverend 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, and Francina Ford, a convert from Hinduism who had been adopted and raised by a British couple. Her mother established several girls' schools at

Pune 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 ...

."A Group of Brilliant Women"
''The Westminster'' (24 June 1905): 17. Susie Sorabji was educated at

Bombay University The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed ...

.Delevan L. Pearson
"Some Modern Indian Idealists"
''The Chautauquan'' (October 1905): 149-152. Sorabji's sisters included law pioneer

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 ...

and physician

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 ...

Career

Susie Sorabji followed her mother into educational work, and (despite lifelong frail health) traveled widely, attending international conferences, lecturing and meeting with potential donors, to raise awareness and funding for the girls' school in Pune. "I am pleading for my sisters, the gentlest, meekest, most neglected in the civilized world," she declared of her cause. She started a

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

, and trained kindergarten teachers for work in other Indian schools. "I had to fight against the government inspector when I first started the kindergarten," she recalled, "but now the system has been made compulsory in the government schools." She also did literacy and missionary work among Indian women living in

zenana Zenana ( fa, زنانه, ur, , bn, জেনানা, hi, ज़नाना) literally meaning "of the women" or "pertaining to women", in Persian language contextually refers to the part of a house belonging to a Muslim, Sikh, or Hindu f ...

spaces. She supported the temperance movement and

Girl Guides Girl Guides (known as Girl Scouts in the United States and some other countries) is a worldwide movement, originally and largely still designed for girls and women only. The movement began in 1909 when girls requested to join the then-grassroot ...

of India, and, along with other members of her family, opposed the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

Personal life

Susie Sorabji had chronic health issues, including vision problems which were treated with surgeries, medication, and extended periods of bandaging and rest. Sorabji died in 1931, aged 63 years. Her sister

wrote a biographical memoir, ''Susie Sorabji, Christian-Parsee Educationist of Western India: A Memoir'' (London: Oxford University Press 1932). A street in Pune was named for Susie Sorabji in 1932. There is a Susie Sorabji Auditorium at St. Helena High School in Pune, named in her memory. The school marks her death date (15 March) as its "Founder's Day", performing a play about her life and distributing food to local charity organizations. There is a chapter of the

Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire The Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire (IODE) is a women's charitable organization based in Canada. It provides scholarships, bursaries, book prizes, and awards, and pursues other philanthropic and educational projects in various communities ac ...

Uxbridge, Ontario Uxbridge is a township in the Regional Municipality of Durham in south-central Ontario, Canada. Communities The main centre in the township is the namesake community of Uxbridge. Other settlements within the township include Altona, Coppin' ...

, named for Susie Sorabji."Uxbridge Pays Tribute to 75-year Organization"
''Durham Region'' (24 May 2009).

References

{{authority control 1868 births 1931 deaths Educators from Maharashtra Parsi people People from Solapur University of Mumbai alumni Indian Christian missionaries Indian women educational theorists Founders of Indian schools and colleges 19th-century Indian educational theorists 20th-century Indian educational theorists Women educators from Maharashtra 19th-century women educators 20th-century women educators 20th-century Indian women