She proved CV Raman wrong: Once denied admission to IISc for being a woman, she fought back and became India’s first female PhD

From a young age, Kamala was captivated by the magic of chemistry. She spent hours in her father’s small home lab, watching beakers bubble and solutions change color. But in pre-Independence India, where women were expected to stay confined to domestic life, her curiosity was often met with skepticism, not encouragement.

Denied IISc Admission Because She Was a Woman

After graduating from Bombay University in 1933, topping her class in chemistry, Kamala dreamed of studying at IISc — India’s premier scientific institution. But when she applied, she received a devastating rejection from none other than C.V. Raman, India’s Nobel Prize-winning physicist and the institute’s director.

His reason? She was a woman.

Kamala refused to accept that verdict. She wrote letters, questioned his stance publicly, and finally walked into his office to plead her case in person. Imagine it — a 22-year-old woman, sari neatly pleated, standing firm before one of the most powerful scientists of her time. Raman, unaccustomed to being challenged, reluctantly agreed to admit her “on probation.” She could study, but only under humiliating conditions — banned from the main lab during the day, allowed to work only at night, and constantly monitored.

Kamala accepted every condition quietly. “I decided that my work would speak for me,” she would later say.

And it did. Within a year, she completed her research with distinction, forcing IISc to lift its ban on women students. From that year onward, women were officially admitted — a door she had pushed open for generations to come.

A Journey from Rejection to Revolution

Her next stop was Cambridge University, where she earned a scholarship in 1937 to study under Nobel laureate Derek Richter. Her research on enzymes like Cytochrome C — essential for understanding how cells breathe and generate energy — earned her a Ph.D. in 1939, making her India’s first woman to receive a doctorate in a scientific field.

But Kamala didn’t chase academic glory. Returning to India, she chose to work where science could serve people. At the Nutrition Research Laboratory in Coonoor and later at the Royal Institute of Science, Mumbai, her work on Neera, a sweet extract from palm trees, revealed that it was rich in Vitamin C, iron, and essential nutrients.

Her findings influenced early nutrition policies in post-independence India and inspired the foundation for the Midday Meal Programme — science that fed the hungry, not egos.

Legacy That Outshines Titles

Kamala Sohonie never sought fame. She rarely appeared in textbooks and wasn’t celebrated like her male contemporaries. Yet, her defiance reshaped Indian science. She opened the doors of IISc to women, mentored young researchers, and fought for funding for women-led projects. Later, as the Director of the Royal Institute of Science, she continued to champion equality in education.

Even in her later years, she resisted labels. “I didn’t want to be the first,” she once said. “I wanted to make sure I wasn’t the last.”

Kamala Sohonie passed away in 1998 — leaving behind no statues, only a legacy. Today, every Indian woman stepping into a lab walks through the door she pried open.