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 The Isabella Thoburn College, formerly the Lucknow Women's College and often called informally IT College, is a college for women in Lucknow, India, named after its founder, Isabella Thoburn, the first woman American missionary of the Methodist ...

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 divis ...

Early life and education

Lilavati Singh was born in

Gorakhpur Gorakhpur is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, along the banks of the Rapti river in the Purvanchal region. It is situated 272 kilometers east of the state capital Lucknow. It is the administrative headquarters of Gorakhpur dis ...

, to Christian parents, with the baptismal name "Ethel Raphael."Florence L. Nichols
''Lilavati Singh: A Sketch''
(Woman's Foreign Missionary Society 1909). She remembered reading

Louisa May Alcott Louisa May Alcott (; November 29, 1832March 6, 1888) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet best known as the author of the novel ''Little Women'' (1868) and its sequels ''Little Men'' (1871) and '' Jo's Boys'' (1886). Raised in ...

's ''

Little Women ''Little Women'' is a coming-of-age novel written by American novelist Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888). Alcott wrote the book, originally published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869, at the request of her publisher. The story follows the live ...

'' as a girl, and feeling called to helpfulness as portrayed in the novel. She began to use her Indian name officially as a young woman. She attended Miss Thoburn's boarding school as a girl, and in 1895 earned a degree in English literature from the

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

, one of the first two women to earn a degree from that institution.

Career

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 E ...

opened a collegiate section of her school, and in 1892 she hired former student Lilavati Singh as a teacher, the only Indian teacher on the faculty. Singh became professor of literature and philosophy at Isabella Thoburn College. In 1902, she was appointed vice principal of the school, following the death of Isabella Thoburn. Singh spoke and sang on a tour in the United States in 1899 and 1900, under the auspices of the Women's Foreign Missionary Society, including a stop at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th and 57th Streets. Designed by architect William Burnet Tuthill and built ...

, where she was on a program with papers from Isabella Bird Bishop and

Priscilla Bright McLaren Priscilla Bright McLaren (8 September 1815 – 5 November 1906) was a British activist who served and linked the anti-slavery movement with the women's suffrage movement in the nineteenth century. She was a member of the Edinburgh Ladies' Emancip ...

, among others. In 1909 she made another lecture tour of the United States to raise awareness of Indian women's lives, and also intending to pursue graduate studies at

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and functioned as the female coordinate institution for the all-male Harvard College. Considered founded in 1879, it was one of the Seven Sisters colleges and h ...

. She chaired the women's committee of the World Students' Christian Federation, and represented India at that organization's conference in Tokyo in 1907. In 1908 she attended international conferences in Europe and England. Singh also edited a women's newspaper, ''Rafik-i-Niswan'', and translated a biography of

Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to several presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American c ...

, whom she admired.

Personal life

Singh died during her 1909 lecture tour of the United States, in a hospital in Chicago, from complications following an emergency operation. She was 40 years old. Her remains were buried in a churchyard in

Elgin, Illinois Elgin ( ) is a city in Cook and Kane counties in the northern part of the U.S. state of Illinois. Elgin is located northwest of Chicago, along the Fox River. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 114,797, the seventh-larg ...

. Her gravestone was inscribed, "The Peace of God was on her Face." A Lilavati Singh dormitory at Isabella Thoburn College was built with memorial donations, and named in her memory.Flora L. Robinson
"College Leaders of Yesterday and To-Day"
''The North American Student'' (1916): 353-354.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Lilavati 1868 births 1909 deaths 19th-century Indian educational theorists Women educators from Uttar Pradesh People from Gorakhpur 20th-century Indian educational theorists 19th-century Indian women scientists 20th-century Indian women scientists Educators from Uttar Pradesh Women scientists from Uttar Pradesh 19th-century Indian women educators 20th-century Indian women educators Educators from British India 19th-century Indian educators 20th-century Indian educators