This article includes a list ofgeneral references, butit lacks sufficient correspondinginline citations. Please help toimprove this article byintroducing more precise citations.(May 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Raghunath Dhondo Karve (14 January 1882 – 14 October 1953) was a professor of mathematics,sex educator and a social reformer fromMaharashtra, India. He was a pioneer in initiatingfamily planning andbirth control for masses inMumbai in 1921.

Born in aChitpavan Brahmin family, Raghunath was the eldest son ofMaharshi Dhondo Keshav Karve.^[1]His mother Radhabai died during childbirth in 1891, when he was nine. He was born in Murud. He studied at New English School, Pune. He stood first in amatriculation examination conducted in 1899. He went toFergusson College, Pune where he obtained aBachelor of Arts degree in 1904. Karve started his professional career as a professor of mathematics atWilson College in Mumbai. However, when he started publicly expressing his views about family planning,population control, andwomen's right to experience sexual/sensual pleasure as much asmen, the conservativeChristian administrators of the college asked him toresign from the professorship. He then devoted himself to the above causes.

On his own initiative, Karve started the very first birth control clinic in India in 1921, the same year when the first birth control clinic opened in London.

Karve's wife, Malati, supported his cause though it brought them socialostracism besides his loss of his professorial career. She shared the couple's financial responsibility, and the two chose to remainchildless.

Apart from his wife, he had support ofDr. B. R. Ambedkar,^[2]Wrangler R.P. Paranjape,^[3]Riyastkar S.G. Sardesai, and Mama Varekar. He had to swim against the current all his life. He got hurt, but he never gave up.

In 1927 Karve began publishing aMarathi magazineSamaj Swasthya (समाजस्वास्थ्य), issued monthly.^[4] In it, he continually discussed issues of society's wellbeing through population control by use of contraceptives so as preventunwanted pregnancies and inducedabortions. He promoted responsible parenting by men,gender equality, and women's empowerment and right to experience sexual and sensual pleasure. As an illustration of some of Karve's radical thoughts, he expressed the thought that so long as childbirth andvenereal diseases are prevented, women could engage in promiscuity—even perhaps with male prostitutes—for the sake of variety in sexual pleasure, if they so desire, without, in fact, harming their husbands. Published from 1927 until Karve's death in October 1953, all the issues of this magazine are now available online.^[5]

• Santatiniyaman Aachar ani Vichar ('Family planning: thoughts and action'; 1923)^[6][7]
• Guptrogapasun Bachav andAadhunik Kaamashastra
• Adhunik Kamashastra (1934)
• Adhunik Aharshastra (1938)
• Vaishya Vyavasay (1940), which had a scientific approach.
• Some of his other, lighter-themed, books wereParischya Ghari (1946) and13 Goshti (1940)^[8]

Literary criticM V Dhond has written three essays on Karve. In the third essay, he analyses why Karve was not as successful in his mission as much asMargaret Sanger andMarie Stopes, his counterparts in United States and UK, respectively.

Karve's mission was not restricted to that of Sanger and Stopes namely happy family life,emancipation of women, control of population. Karve wanted women to have as much sexual freedom and sensual pleasure as men.

Dhond claims contemporary society's objectives were restricted to those of Sanger and Stopes and hence not only Karve's mission as a whole suffered, he himself was persecuted by society at large. There were other reasons too: Karve's unattractive personality, poor finances, and lack of networking skills.

Developments in understanding and social acceptance of woman's sexuality occurred subsequent to Karve's death:

• Publication of theKinsey report in 1953;
• Publication ofMasters and Johnson's book in 1966; and
• Publication ofThe Hite Report in 1976.

These documents have proven how right Karve was with his thoughts on woman's sexuality.

• "Ra. Dho. Karve" (र. धो. कर्वे) byYashawant Dinkar Phadke, 1981 (in Marathi)
• "'Samajswastya'kar"- a biography of R.D.Karve by Dr. Anant Deshmukh, Padmagandha Prakashan, 2010
• "Maharashtrache Shilpakaar – Ra Dho Karve" -a biography by Dr Anant Deshmukh, (2013)
• "Ra. Dho. Karve" (र. धो. कर्वे) : Vyaktitva aani kartrutva by Dr. Anant Deshmukh (2010)
• "'Samajswastya'til nivadak lekh" edited by Dr. Anant Deshmukh, Padmagandha Prakashan, 2010
• "Mopansa'chya katha" edited by Dr. Anant Deshmukh, Padmagandha Prakashan, 2010
• "Buddhipramanyawad (translated by Prof.Madhukar Toradmal)" edited by Dr. Anant Deshmukh, Padmagandha Prakshan, 2010
• "Asangrahita R.D.Karve" edited by Dr.Anant Deshmukh, Padmagandha Prakashan, 2010
• "R.D.Karve-Mate aani Matantare" edited by Dr. Anant Deshmukh, Padmagandha Prakashan, 2010
• "Shesha Samajswastya" edited by Dr. Anant Deshmukh, Padmagandha Prakashan, 2010
• "Nivadak 'Sharadechi Patre'" edited by Dr. Anant Deshmukh, Padmagandha Prakashan, 2010
• Research articles on R. D. Karve by Dr. Anant Deshmukh^[9]
• Raghunathrao Dhondo Karve – Ek drashta purush – Article in Loksatta by Dr Anant Deshmukh 12-Jan-2003
• Avaghe Ra Dho (अवघे ‘रधों’) – Article in Loksatta 10-Oct-2010
• "Majhe Puran" by Anandibai Karve, 1951 (Marathi)
• "Kahi Ambat Kahi God" by Shakuntala Paranjape, 1979 (Marathi)
• "Upekshit Drashta" by Diwakar Bapat, 1971 (Marathi)
• Marathi novel based on R D Karve's life: "Raghunathachi Bakhar" (रघुनाथाची बखर) by S J Joshi (श्री ज जोशी), 1976
• National family health survey (NFHS-2), India, 1998–99
• The Journal of Family Welfare By Family Planning Association of India
• National family health survey (MCH and family planning)
• Marathi film on the life of R. D. Karve: Dhyasparva (2001), directed byAmol Palekar^[10]

• Article by Dr. Anant Deshmukh (डॉ. अनंत देशमुख) (Marathi)

• Sex educators
• Indian birth control activists
• Marathi people
• 1882 births
• 1953 deaths
• 19th-century Indian mathematicians
• 20th-century Indian mathematicians
• Activists from Maharashtra
• Scientists from Mumbai

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• EngvarB from September 2014
• Use dmy dates from September 2014
• Articles lacking in-text citations from May 2014
• All articles lacking in-text citations
• Articles with hCards