Pioneering Indian Women Scientists

First Indian woman to earn a PhD in a scientific discipline (Cambridge, 1939). Discovered the enzyme cytochrome c in plant tissue and famously challenged C.V. Raman’s refusal to admit women to the Indian Institute of Science, a stand that eventually opened its doors to women researchers.

Alongside Anna Mani, Sohonie’s confrontation with Raman preceded Anna Mani’s own arrival in his lab at IISc in 1940. Both women worked under the same demanding mentor; both changed what was possible for the women who followed.

Pioneering botanist whose work on sugarcane and eggplant cytogenetics reshaped Indian agriculture. Director-General of the Botanical Survey of India and the first woman elected a Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy.

Alongside Anna Mani, Ammal, a generation older than Mani, established that an Indian woman could lead a national scientific institution, a template Mani would extend when she became Deputy Director-General of the India Meteorological Department.

First Indian woman to receive a Doctor of Science from an Indian university. Her research on vinca alkaloids and anti-epileptic compounds underpins medicines still in use. Founded the Department of Chemistry at Lady Brabourne College.

Alongside Anna Mani, Almost exactly Mani’s contemporary, born a year earlier, Chatterjee built her career, like Mani, in the decades framing Indian independence, and both were elected Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy.

First woman engineer from Karnataka. Built India’s first microwave research laboratory at IISc and co-authored foundational textbooks on antennas and radar. Later chaired IISc’s Department of Electrical Communication Engineering.

Alongside Anna Mani, Chatterjee and Mani both worked with precision instruments, one at radio frequencies, the other at optical and atmospheric ones, and both trained generations of Indian scientists in indigenous instrument design.