Cornelia Sorabji - Lawyer and Advocate

Cornelia Sorabji was born in India on the 15th November 1866. She was one of nine children, her father was Rev. Sorabji Karsedji and her mother was Francina Ford. Cornelia spent her childhood in Belgaum and Pune, India.

Cornelia attended school, which was unusual at the time as education for girls was not encouraged and parents were unable to afford the fees. In 1888 she became the first woman to graduate from Bombay University. Cornelia  studied English Literature. In 1889 Cornelia moved to England to study for a Law degree at Oxford University. She was the first woman to study law

there. However, on completion of her studies, Sorabji was not granted her degree from Oxford University as at the time women were not awarded the degree they'd worked so hard to achieve, that was despite being allowed to attend lectures and study at the university. Cornelia was eventually awarded her degree in 1922.

Cornelia was known for her advocacy for women’s rights and her groundbreaking work as a lawyer in India where she’d returned to in 1894, where she became the first woman to practice law in the country. In 1904 she appeared in front of the Calcutta High Court as an adviser on behalf of women.

Cornelia later returned to the UK where she settled. In 1923 she became the first woman to practice law at the Privy Council, her work mainly focused on women’s rights advocacy. 

She wrote about her life and work in her autobiography Between the Twilights.

Cornelia Sorabji passed away on the 6th July 1954 at her home in London.

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