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.