Pandita Mary Ramabai, Translator of the Scriptures

30 April -- Commemoration
If celebrated as a Lesser Festival, Common of any Saint, page 531

Mary Ramabai was born in 1858, the daughter of a Sanscrit scholar who believed in educating women. Converting to Christianity, she nevertheless remained loyal to many aspects of her Hindu background, pioneering an Indian vision of the faith. She became well known as a lecturer on social questions, becoming the first woman to be awarded the title 'Pandita'. She spent many years working for the education of women and orphans, founding schools and homes. Personally, she lived in great simplicity and was a prominent opponent of the caste system and child marriage. She died on this day in 1922.