Zamin Ki Dost

Born Willimina Leonora Armstrong in Nebraska on August 14, 1866, she later wrote under the pen name Zamin Ki Dost, meaning “Friend of the Earth.” She trained as a physician in Philadelphia and went to India in 1887 as a medical missionary, an experience that shaped much of her later writing.

Her best-known book is Incense of Sandalwood (1904), drawn from her time in India. She also collaborated with Will Levington Comfort on stories of India that were published as Son of Power in 1920. Alongside her writing, she was known as a lecturer and spent time speaking in the United States on Armenian relief.

Later in life, she settled in Los Angeles, where archival records describe her as teaching philosophy and continuing to write stories and poems. She died on November 2, 1947, leaving behind a body of work that blended observation, belief, and storytelling.