Images Overview & Captions

Note: Below is a list of images that relate to Cornelia Sorabji's life and work. To view the images with the captions, follow this link to the main website's gallery page: images https://cornelia-sorabji.wixsite.com/website-1/projects-2 

Barnett, Henry Walter. "Cornelia Sorabji (with Superimposed Facsimile Signature)" ([Early twentieth century]). One More Voice (an imprint of Livingstone Online), site launch edition, 2020, https://onemorevoice.org/html/transcriptions/liv_021015_ART.html 

This is a portrait of Cornelia Sorabji originally published in her book Love and Life Behind the Purdah, by Cornelia  Sorabji, frontispiece. London: Freemantle & Co., 1901. One More Voice (an imprint of Livingstone Online), site launch edition, 2020.

"Bombay University Convocation Hall in the 1870s." 1870s. Image. Bombay, India. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bombay_University_Convocation_Hall_in_the_1870s.jpg 

This is an image of the University of Bombay Convocation Hall during the 1870s with what appears to be a man and a woman staring at the building. Cornelia Sorabji became the first woman to graduate from Bombay University. It is the place where she started her passion for law and defense of women's rights.

Rol , Agence. 1924. "Cornelia Sorabji at the 1924 Braemar Gathering." Image. Braemar Park, Aberdeenshire. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cornelia_Sorabji_at_the_1924_Braemar_Gathering.jpg 

This is an image of Cornelia Sorabji, taken in September 1924 in Braemar Park, Aberdeenshire.

Gast, Aivin. 2019. "Park Building, Somerville College, Oxford University." Image. Oxford, England. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Park_Building,_Somerville_College,_Oxford_University.jpg 

This is an image of the Park Building, Somerville College where Cornelia Sorabji became the first woman to study law at Oxford University. This school was one of the most important stages in Sorabji's journey as a political activist and a distinguished Indian social reformer.

Gandhi, Manoj sharma. 2013. "As 'Gandhi' in a Pm House of India's Project.." Image. India. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:As_%22Gandhi%22_in_a_pm_house_of_india%22s_project..jpg 

This an image of Mahatma Gandhi meeting with Indian politicians. Cornelia Sorabji was opposing Gandhi's calls of the Independence of India. The image also features an Indian woman being a part of such important national discussions.

Internet Archive Book. 1909. "A Glimpse of India - Being a Collection of Extracts from the Letters Dr. Clara A. Swain, First Medical Missionary to India of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church (14580058957)." Image. India. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_glimpse_of_India_-_being_a_collection_of_extracts_from_the_letters_Dr._Clara_A._Swain,_first_medical_missionary_to_India_of_the_Woman%27s_Foreign_Missionary_Society_of_the_Methodist_Episcopal_Church_(14580058957).jpg 

This is a photograph of the first medical missionary to India where a British woman sits with with a group of Indian female students. This image reflects some instances in Cornelia Sorabji's work that refer to the role of such institutions in the social reform she was calling for through her writing and activism.

Jones, Adam. 2017. "Woman Border Guard - Attari-Wagah India-Pakistan Border - Near Amritsar - Punjab - India." Image. India. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Woman_Border_Guard_-_Attari-Wagah_India-Pakistan_Border_-_Near_Amritsar_-_Punjab_-_India_(12697920934).jpg 

This is an image of an Indian woman who works as a border guard new near the India-Pakistan border. It speaks to what Sorabji advocates through her writing and activism in terms of giving woman access to the public sphere and ensuring that they are treated as equals to men.

"Kling=Hindu." 1913. Image. India. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e1-145c-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99 

This is a painting of three India women and an Indian man. It relates to the contexts of many of Cornelia Sorabji's writings about Indian men having multiple wives in works like Love and Life Behind the Purdah.

"Silver Zenana Carriage1895b." 1895. Image. Baroda, India. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Silver_zenana_carriage1895b.jpg 

This is an image of a zenana carriage during the late nineteenth century. Such a carriage is meant to isolate rich women from men while traveling. Sorabji makes multiple references in her works to the women in the zenana and how such traditions affect their lives.

"The First Syrian Woman at the UN Alice Kandalaft with the Representatives of India - 1948." 1948. Image. New York. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_first_Syrian_woman_at_the_UN_Alice_Kandalaft_with_the_representatives_of_India_-_1948.jpg 

This is an image of two female representatives of India in the United Nations conversing with the first Syrian woman at the UN. It reflects the role of Indian women in the international community as they represent their countries. It also speaks to the sisterhood and the connection between women across the globe that Cornelia Sorabji calls for in her book Shubala - A Child-Mother.

Villalba, B. 2016. "Women in Navjyoti India Foundation." Image. India. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Womans_in_Navjyoti_India_Foundation.jpg 

This is a modern image of 3 Indian women studying together. It relates to Cornelia Sorabji's efforts to make education available for Indian females. Sorabji makes the right of girls and women to have access to education a stable in her writing.

"whatsthatpicture. 1900. Image. India. "Parsi Woman and Son at an Unknown Location in India (c. 1900)." Image. India. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Parsi_woman_and_son_at_an_unknown_location_in_India_(c._1900).jpg 

This an image of a Parsi woman with her son taken at the beginning of the twentieth century. It relates to the background of Sorabji's family as Parsee Christians.