Savitribai Phule

Savitribai Phule (1831 to 1897) was an Indian educator, social reformer and poet widely credited as the first female teacher in modern India. Working alongside her husband Jyotirao Phule, she opened India's first girls' school at Bhide Wada in Pune in 1848, teaching a curriculum that included mathematics, science and social studies at a time when educating girls was met with open hostility from much of society. By 1851 the couple ran three girls' schools together serving roughly 150 students, and over their working lives they opened eighteen schools in total. In 1852 she founded the Mahila Seva Mandal to advocate for women's rights, and in 1853 she helped establish a shelter protecting pregnant widows and assault victims from infanticide. She also published poetry, including the 1854 collection Kavya Phule. Savitribai Phule died in 1897 after contracting bubonic plague while caring for plague victims, and her birthdate is now marked as Girl Child Day in Maharashtra.