Barrister cornelia shorabji..............................बैरिस्टर कार्नेलिया सोराबजी

Barrister cornelia shorabji

भारत की प्रथम महिला बैरिस्टर कार्नेलिया सोराबजी

(15 November 1866 – 6 July 1954)
आज हालात काफी बदल चुके है | आज की नारी काफी आगे आ चुकी हैं | लेकिन एक जमाना वो भी था जब नारी के पढ़ने-लिखने काम करने कीबात सोची भी नहीं जा सकती थी | और यह बात बहुत पुरानी भी नहीं हैं सिर्फ १०० -२०० साल पुरानी |उस वक्त महिला बैरिस्टर कार्नेलिया सोराबजी जैसी ही महान नारियो के संघर्स का परिणाम है कि आज नारिया अपनी मर्जी का काफी कुछ करने के लिए आजाद है |
15 नवम्बर 1866 को ही भारत की पहली महिला बैरिस्टर कार्नेलिया सोराबजी का जन्म हुआ था. नासिक में जन्मीं कार्नेलिया 1892 में नागरिक कानून की पढ़ाई के लिए विदेश गयीं और 1894 में भारत लौटीं. उस समय समाज में महिलाएं मुखर नहीं थीं और न ही महिलाओं को वकालत का अधिकार था. पर कार्नेलिया तो एक जुनून का नाम था. अपनी प्रतिभा की बदौलत उन्होंने महिलाओं को कानूनी परामर्श देना आरंभ किया और महिलाओं के लिए वकालत का पेशा खोलने की माँग उठाई. अंतत: 1907 के बाद कार्नेलिया को बंगाल, बिहार, उड़ीसा और असम की अदालतों में सहायक महिला वकील का पद दिया गया. एक लम्बी जद्दोजहद के बाद 1924 में महिलाओं को वकालत से रोकने वाले कानून को शिथिल कर उनके लिए भी यह पेशा खोल दिया गया....1929 में कार्नेलिया हाईकोर्ट की वरिष्ठ वकील के तौर पर सेवानिवृत्त हुयीं पर उसके बाद महिलाओं में इतनी जागृति आ चुकी थी कि वे वकालत को एक पेशे के तौर पर अपनाकर अपनी आवाज मुखर करने लगी थीं. यद्यपि 1954 में कार्नेलिया का देहावसान हो गया, पर आज भी उनका नाम वकालत जैसे जटिल और प्रतिष्ठित पेशे में महिलाओं की बुनियाद है.

Cornelia Sorabji

(15 November 1866 – 6 July 1954)
was the first female barrister from India, a social reformer, and a writer. She was also the first female graduate from Bombay University, and the first woman in the world to read law at Oxford.

Upon returning to India in 1894, Sorabji became involved in social and advisory work on behalf of the purdahnashins, women who, according to Hindu law, were forbidden to communicate with the outside male world. In many cases, these women owned considerable property, yet had no access to the necessary legal expertise to defend it. Sorabji was given special permission to enter pleas on the behalf of the purdahnashins before British agents of Kathiawar and Indore principalities, but she was unable to defend them in court since, as a woman, she did not hold professional standing in the Indian legal system. In the hopes of remedying that, Sorabji presented herself for the LLB examination of Bombay University in 1897 and pleader’s examination of Allahabad high court in 1899. Yet, despite her successes, Sorabji would not be recognized as a barrister until the law which barred women from practicing was changed in 1924.


Sorabji began petitioning the India Office as early as 1902 to provide for a female legal advisor to represent women and minors in provincial courts. In 1904, she was appointed Lady Assistant to the Court of Wards of Bengal and by 1907, due to the need for such representation, Sorabji was working in the provinces of Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, and Assam. In the next 20 years of service, it is estimated that Sorabji helped over 600 women and orphans fight legal battles, sometimes at no charge. She would later write about many of these cases in her work Between the Twilights and her two autobiographies. In 1924, the legal profession was opened to women in India, and Sorabji began practicing in Calcutta. However, due to male bias and discrimination, she was confined to preparing opinions on cases, rather than pleading them before the court.
Sorabji retired from the high court in 1929, and settled in London, visiting India during the winters. She died at her London Home, Northumberland House, Green Lanes, Finsbury Park, on 6 July 1954.

In addition to her work as a social reformer and legal activist, Sorabji wrote a number of books, short stories and articles.
1. 1902: Love and Life behind the Purdah (short stories concerning life in the zenana (women’s domestic quarters), as well as other aspects of life in India under colonial rule.)
2. 1904: Sun-Babies: studies in the child-life of India
3. 1908: Between the Twilights: Being studies of India women by one of themselves (details many of her legal cases while working for the Court of Wards); Social Relations: England and India
4. 1916: Indian Tales of the Great Ones Among Men, Women and Bird-People (legends and folk tales)
5. 1917: The Purdahnashin (works on women in purdah)
6. 1924: Therefore (memoirs of her parents)
7. 1930: Gold Mohur: Time to Remember (a play)
8. 1932: A biography of her educationist sister, Susie Sorabji


Sorabji also wrote two autobiographical works entitled India Calling (1934) and India Recalled (1936). It is acknowledged that she contributed to Queen Mary’s Book of India, 1943, which had contributions from such authors as T. S. Eliot and Dorothy L. Sayers.


By the late 1920s, however, Sorabji had adopted a staunch anti-nationalist attitude; believing that nationalism violated the beliefs, customs, and traditions of the country’s Hindu ‘orthodox.By 1927, she was actively involved in promoting support for the Empire and preserving the rights of the Hindu Orthodox. She favorably viewed the polemical attack on Indian self-rule in Katherine Mayo's 1927 book Mother India, and condemned Mahatma Gandhi’s campaign of civil disobedience. She toured India and the United States to propagate her political views which would end up costing her the support needed to undertake later social reforms. One such failed project was the League for Infant Welfare, Maternity, and District Nursing.