Kamini Roy

Kamini Roy (12 October 1864 – 27 September 1933) was a Bengali poet, social worker and feminist in British India. She was the first woman honours graduate in British India.

Early life Born on 12 October 1864 in the village of Basunda, then in Bakerganj District of Bengal Presidency and now in Jhalokati District of Bangladesh, Roy joined Bethune School in 1883. One of the first girls to attend school in British India, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with Sanskrit honours from Bethune College of the University of Calcutta in 1886 and started teaching there in the same year. In 1894, she married Kedarnath Roy.

In a Bengali essay titled The Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge she wrote,

In 1921, she was one of the leaders, along with Kumudini Mitra (Basu) and Mrinalini Sen, of the Bangiya Nari Samaj, an organization formed to fight for woman's suffrage. The Bengal Legislative Council granted limited suffrage to women in 1925, allowing Bengali women to exercise their right for the first time in the 1926 Indian general election.

Works Selected works include: Mahasweta, Pundorik Pouraniki Dwip O Dhup Jibon Pathey Nirmalya Malya O Nirmalya Ashok Sangeet Gunjan (Children's book) Balika Sikkhar Adarsha (Essays)