Irawati Karve became India’s first female anthropologist - studying tribes that nobody had investigated, and taking her children on expeditions deep in the rainforest.

In 1927, she dared to defy the racist theory of Eugen Fischer, a famous German professor during her PhD in Berlin. Irawati scientifically rejected human differences to justify discrimination, and was the first to do so.

Her granddaughter, Urmilla Deshpande, speaks to Reena Stanton-Sharma about her life and career.

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(Photo: Irawati Karve. Credit: Urmilla Deshpande)

Irawati Karve: India’s groundbreaking anthropologist

Witness History

Irawati Karve: India’s groundbreaking anthropologist