Kamini Roy Biography 
Kamini Roy was a leading poet, social worker and feminist from Bengal. She was the first woman honours graduate in British India. Roy was a feminist in an age when even women's education was a taboo. Her notable literary contributions were – Pouraniki, Malya O Nirmalya, Dwip O Dhup, Mahasweta, Pundorik, Jibon Pathey, Nirmalya, and Ashok Sangeet. She wrote Gunjan, children’s book and Balika Sikkhar Adarsha – collection of essays.
She was born on 12 October 1864 in the village of Basanda of Bengal Presidency, now a part of Bangladesh. Her father, Chandi Charan Sen was a judge and a writer. He was also an active member of Brahmo Samaj. Her brother, Nisith Chandra Sen was a barrister and later he became Mayor of Kolkata. She completed her school education from Bethune School and passed the First Arts examination in 1883. She was one among the earliest Indian women batch who studied at school and owns the credit of the first woman honours graduate in the country. She passed Bachelor of Arts degree with Sanskrit honours from Bethune College of the University of Calcutta in 1886. Kadambini Ganguly, one of the first female graduates of the British Empire was her three year senior in the same college. After graduation, she joined the same college as a teacher.
In 1894 she got married to Kedarnath Roy. The seeds of feminism were first spilled on her by Abala Bose, a social worker who became famous later for her efforts in the field of women’s education and improvement in the social life of widows. In 1921, she was one of the leaders to fight for woman’s suffrage and became successful. She was also a member of Female Labour Investigation Commission (1922–23).
Published: N/A
Updated: January 07, 2014
