Chandramukhi Basu

Chandramukhi Basu (1860 – 3 February 1944), a Bengali from Dehradun, was one of the first two female graduates of the British India. In 1882, along with Kadambini Ganguly, she passed the examination of the bachelor's degree in arts (BA) from University of Calcutta. Their formal degrees were handed during the convocation of the university in 1883.

Early life The daughter of Bhuban Mohan Bose, she passed the First Arts examination from Dehradun Native Christian School in 1880. At that time Bethune School, to which she wanted to enter; did not admit non-Hindu girls, and as such she had to be admitted at the First Arts (F.A.) level in Reverend Alexander Duff's Free Church Institution (now the Scottish Church College). In 1876, because of the discriminatory official stances towards gender, she had to be given special permission to appear for the F.A. examination. As the only girl to appear for the examination that year, she had ranked first, but the university had to hold a series of meetings to decide whether her results could be published. Before Kadambini Ganguly, Chandramukhi Basu had already cleared her Entrance Examination in 1876, although the university refused to enlist her as a successful candidate. Only the university's changed resolution in 1878 allowed her to study further After she passed her F.A. examination, she moved to Bethune College for the degree course, along with Kadambini Ganguly.