List of First Indian Women in Various Fields

sponsored links

Dear friends, on the eve of International Women's Day today (8th March), here we are presenting the list of inspirational women who became the first Indian women to make history in their chosen field of work. These women shed their role of staying at home and taking care of the family – which has been something that was forced upon Indian women for the past centuries. We hope, this post will be motivational for many of our brothers and sisters. Not only inspirational, but this list also will be helpful for your upcoming competitive exams. Happy Women's day and let's make our dearest women happy today (at least today). Happy reading :)

• The First Woman Teacher in India :
  • Savitribai Jyotirao Phule along with her husband, Jyotirao Phule, played an important role in improving women’s rights in India during the British rule.
  • The couple founded the first women’s school at Bhide Wadai in Pune in 1848.
• The First Indian Woman to win an Oscar :   
• Bhanu Athaiya (Best Costume Design award) at the 55th Annual Academy Awards for Lord Attenborough’s “Gandhi”.
• The First Indian Woman to win an Olympic medal :
• Weightlifter Karnam Malleswari at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games (Olympic bronze)
• The first Indian woman to receive a gallantry award in the Indian Army
• Major Mitali Madhumita  won Sena Medal for her acts of bravery in Afghanistan
• The First Indian Women to become Doctors :
  
• Anandi Gopal Joshi and Kadambini Ganguly were the first two Indian and South Asian women to obtain a degree in Western medicine in 1886
• Note : Anandi Gopal Joshi is also believed to be the first Hindu woman to set foot on American soil.
• The First Indian Woman in Space :
• Kalpana Chawla first flew on Space Shuttle Columbia in 1997 as a mission specialist and primary robotic arm operator.
• The First Indian Woman to scale Mt. Everest :
• Bachendri Pal on the 23rd of May 1984.
• The First Indian Woman to become an IPS Officer :
• Kiran Bedi joined the Indian Police Service (IPS) in 1972, becoming its first woman officer.
• The First Indian Woman to become the President :
• Pratibha Devisingh Patil served as the 12th President of India from 2007 to 2012.
• The First Indian Woman to become President of the Indian National Congress :
• Sarojini Naidu was the first Indian woman to become the president of the Indian National Congress and the first woman to become governor of Uttar Pradesh.
• The First Indian Woman to become a Judge :
• Justice M. Fathima Beevi was the first female judge to be appointed to the Supreme Court of India in 1989, and the first Muslim woman to be appointed to any higher judiciary.
• She is the first woman judge of a Supreme Court of a nation in India and Asia.
• The First Indian Woman to become Prime Minister of India :
• Indira Gandhi, who served as the India Prime Minister from 1966 to 1977 and then again from 1980 until her assassination in 1984, is the second-longest-serving Prime Minister of India and the only woman to hold the office.
• She was also the first Indian woman to be awarded the Bharat Ratna.
• First women from India to win a Nobel prize :
• Mother Teresa won Nobel Peace prize in 1979
• The First Indian Woman to become the Director General of Police :
• Kanchan Chaudhry Bhattacharya was the first woman to become Director General of Police of a state.
• She was the second woman IPS officer in the country after Kiran Bedi.
• The First Indian Woman pilot in the Indian Air Force :
• Flight Lt. Harita Kaur Deol was the first woman pilot to fly solo in the Indian Air Force.
• The flight was on 2 September 1994 in an Avro HS-748, when she was 22 years old.
• The First Indian Woman to receive the Ashoka Chakra :
• Neerja Bhanot was a flight attendant for Pan Am, based in Mumbai, India, who was murdered while saving passengers from terrorists on board the hijacked Pan Am Flight 73 on 5 September 1986.
• Posthumously, she became the youngest recipient of India’s highest civilian award for bravery, the Ashoka Chakra.
• The first lady Chief Minister of State :
• Smt Sucheta Kripalani
• The first lady Central minister of the country :
• Smt Rajkumari Amrit Kaur
• The first woman to become the Chief Election Commissioner :
• Mrs Rama Devi
• The first woman to be appointed Chief Justice of a state High Court :
• Justice Leila Seth
• The first woman to be appointed judge of the Supreme Court :
• Justice M Fatima Beevi
• The first woman to be appointed the Speaker of Lok Sabha :
• Mrs Meira Kumar
• The first woman president of UN General Assembly
• Mrs Vijayalaxmi Pandit
• The first Indian woman to swim the English Channel :
• Aarti Saha
• The first Indian woman to win an Asiad medal
• Kamaljit Sandhu
• The first Indian woman to join the Territorial Army as a jawan
• Shanti Tigga
• The first Indian woman to be appointed as the Chief Information Commissioner
• Deepak Sandhu
• The first Indian woman to be appointed as the Minister of External Affairs of India 
• Sushma Swaraj
• Note : Mrs. Indira Gandhi held the additional charge as Minister of External Affairs while being the Prime Minister of India.

 Beauty Contests

• The First Indian Woman to become Miss World : 
• Reita Faria crowned Miss World in 1966
• The first Indian woman to become Miss Universe
• Sushmita Sen
• The first Indian woman to win the Miss Asia-Pacific title
• Zeenat Aman
• The first Indian woman to win the Miss Earth title
• Nicol Faria

First Woman Chief Ministers of Indian States (In alphabetical order)

• Assam - Syeda Anwara Taimur
• Bihar - Rabri Devi
• Delhi - Sushma Swaraj
• Gujarat - Anandiben Patel
• Goa, Daman & Diu - Shashikala Kakodkar
• Madhya Pradesh - Uma Bharti
• Odisha - Nandini Satpathy
• Punjab - Rajinder Kaur Bhattal
• Rajasthan - Vasundhara Raje
• Tamilnadu - Janaki Ramachandran
• Uttar Pradesh - Sucheta Kriplani
• West Bengal - Mamta Banerjee

First Woman Governors of Indian States (In alphabetical order)

• Andhra Pradesh - Sharda Mukherjee
• Gujarat - Sharda Mukherjee
• Himachal Pradesh - Sheila Kaul
• Kerala - Jyoti Venkatachalam
• Madhya Pradesh - Sarla Grewal
• Maharashtra - Vijayalakshmi Pandit
• Rajasthan - Pratibha Patil
• Tamil Nadu - Fathima Beevi
• Uttar Pradesh - Sarojini Naidu
• West Bengal - Padmaja Naidu

sponsored links