Who was the first woman to receive the Jnanpith Award, and in which year?
- Amrita Pritam — Punjabi, 1981
- Mahadevi Varma — Hindi, 1982
- Ashapoorna Devi — Bengali, 1976
- Mahasweta Devi — Bengali, 1996
Answer: Ashapoorna Devi — Bengali, 1976, for Prothom Protishruti (The First Promise)
Ashapoorna Devi became the first woman to win the Jnanpith Award in 1976 — eleven years after the prize was first given. She was honoured for her Bengali novel Prothom Protishruti (The First Promise, 1965), the opening volume of a trilogy tracing three generations of women in Bengal. Eight women in total have won the award through 2025.