Bethune College

Bethune College is a women's college located on Bidhan Sarani in Kolkata, India, affiliated to the University of Calcutta. It is recognized as the oldest women's college in India, having been established as a girls' school in 1849 and developed into a college in 1879. The institution was founded as the Calcutta Female School in 1849 by John Elliot Drinkwater Bethune, with financial support from Dakshinaranjan Mukherjee. It began in Mukherjee's home in Baitakkhana with 21 girls, and enrolment rose to 80 the following year. A permanent school building was later established on Cornwallis Square, initially inscribed as the 'Hindu Female School.' After Bethune's death in 1851, support waned, and the government took over the school in 1856, renaming it Bethune School in 1862–63. In 1879, it became Bethune College, the first women's college in India, while Bethune School was the second women's school in Asia. The college is ranked 91st among colleges in India by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) in 2024. Its notable alumni include pioneering female graduates, social workers, freedom fighters, and writers.