Susie Sorabji (1868 – 15 March 1931) was an Indian educator and Christian missionary.
Early life Sorabji was born in Sholapur, Maharashtra,Eunice De Souza, Lindsay Pereira, eds., Women's Voices: Selections from Nineteenth and Early-Twentieth Century Indian Writing in English (Oxford University Press 2004): 95. one of the seven daughters of Reverend Sorabji Karsedji, a Parsi Christian missionary, and Francina Ford, a convert from Hinduism who had been adopted and raised by a British couple. Her mother established several girls' schools at Pune."A Group of Brilliant Women" The Westminster (24 June 1905): 17. Susie Sorabji was educated at Bombay University.Delevan L. Pearson, "Some Modern Indian Idealists" The Chautauquan (October 1905): 149-152. Sorabji's sisters included law pioneer Cornelia Sorabji and physician Alice Maude Sorabji Pennell.
Career Susie Sorabji followed her mother into educational work,"Hindoo Evangelist Speaks" Boston Post (30 September 1901): 6. via Newspapers.com and (despite lifelong frail health) traveled widely, attending international conferences,Susie Sorabji, "Education of Women in India" New York Observer (10 August 1905): 186-188. lecturingSusie Sorabji, "A Vision of the Future Women of India" Life and Light for Woman (April 1914): 162. and meeting with potential donors,"Miss Gould's Gift to Miss Sorabji" New York Observer (11 January 1906): 36. to raise awareness and funding for the girls' school in Pune. "I am pleading for my sisters, the gentlest, meekest, most neglected in the civilized world," she declared of her cause.Deborah Anna Logan, The Indian Ladies' Magazine, 1901–1938: From Raj to Swaraj (Rowman & Littlefield 2017): 155.
She started a kindergarten, and trained kindergarten teachers for work in other Indian schools. "I had to fight against the government inspector when I first started the kindergarten," she recalled, "but now the system has been made compulsory in the government schools." She also did literacy and missionary work among Indian women living in zenana spaces.Jessie A. Fowler, "A Mental Photograph of Miss Susie Sorabji, of India" The Phrenological Journal and Science of Health (October 1905): 312-317. She supported the temperance movement and Girl Guides of India,"Castes Eliminated by Scout Growth in India" Evening News (8 April 1924): 13. via Newspapers.com and, along with other members of her family, opposed the Indian independence movement and promoted support for the Empire and preserving the rule of the British Raj.Tim Allender, Learning Femininity in Colonial India, 1820-1932 (Oxford University Press 2016): 260.
Personal life Susie Sorabji had chronic health issues, including vision problems which were treated with surgeries, medication, and extended periods of bandaging and rest. Sorabji died in 1931, aged 63 years. Her sister Cornelia Sorabji wrote a biographical memoir, Susie Sorabji, Christian-Parsee Educationist of Western India: A Memoir (London: Oxford University Press 1932).Cornelia Sorabji, Susie Sorabji, Christian-Parsee Educationist of Western India: A Memoir (Oxford University Press 1932). A street in Pune was named for Susie Sorabji in 1932.
There is a Susie Sorabji Auditorium at St. Helena High School in Pune, named in her memory.The Susie Sorabji Auditorium (St. Helena School) Pune, Venues, Eventful.com. The school marks her death date (15 March) as its "Founder's Day", performing a play about her life and distributing food to local charity organizations."St Helena's High School Celebrates Founder's Day" Times of India (21 March 2011).
There is a chapter of the Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire in Uxbridge, Ontario, named for Susie Sorabji."Uxbridge Pays Tribute to 75-year Organization" Durham Region (24 May 2009).
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