Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit | |
|---|---|
 Vijaya Lakshmi Panditc. 1938 | |
| 8th President of the United Nations General Assembly | |
| In office 15 September 1953 – 21 September 1954[1] | |
| Preceded by | Lester B. Pearson |
| Succeeded by | Eelco N. van Kleffens |
| 3rd Governor of Maharashtra | |
| In office 28 November 1962 – 18 October 1964 | |
| Chief Minister | Marotrao Kannamwar [a] Vasantrao Naik |
| Preceded by | P. Subbarayan |
| Succeeded by | P. V. Cherian |
| Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha | |
| In office 1964–1969 | |
| Preceded by | Jawaharlal Nehru |
| Succeeded by | Janeshwar Mishra |
| Constituency | Phulpur |
| In office 1952–1955 | |
| Preceded by | constituency established |
| Succeeded by | Sheorajvati Nehru |
| Constituency | Lucknow |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Swarup Nehru (1900-08-18)18 August 1900 |
| Died | 1 December 1990(1990-12-01) (aged 90) |
| Political party | Indian National Congress |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3, includingNayantara Sahgal |
| Parent(s) | Motilal Nehru Swarup Rani Nehru |
| Relatives | SeeNehru–Gandhi family |
| Signature |  |
Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit (néeSwarupNehru;[2] 18 August 1900 – 1 December 1990) was an Indian freedom fighter, diplomat and politician. She served as the 8thPresident of the United Nations General Assembly from 1953 to 1954, the first woman and the only Indian to have been appointed to this post. She was also the 3rdGovernor of Maharashtra from 1962 to 1964. Noted for her participation in theIndian independence movement, she was jailed several times during the movement.
In 1944, she visited the United States to raise awareness about the Indian affairs among the American people in order to counter the anti-Indian propaganda there. Following the independence of India, she was sent to London as India's most important diplomat after serving as India's envoy to theSoviet Union, theUnited States and theUnited Nations.[3] Hailing from the prominentNehru-Gandhi political family, her brotherJawaharlal Nehru was the firstprime minister ofindependent India.
Vijaya Lakshmi's (born Swarup)[2] father,Motilal Nehru (1861–1931), a wealthy barrister who belonged to theKashmiri Pandit community,[4] served twice asPresident of the Indian National Congress during theIndependence Struggle. Her mother,Swaruprani Thussu (1868–1938), who came from a well-known Kashmiri Pandit family settled inLahore,[5] was Motilal's second wife, the first having died in child birth. She was the second of three children;Jawaharlal was eleven years her senior (b. 1889), while her younger sisterKrishna Hutheesing (1907–1967) became a noted writer and authored several books on their brother.
She attended the 1916 Congress session that took place in Lucknow. She was impressed bySarojini Naidu andAnnie Besant.[6]
In 1920, she spent time inMahatma Gandhi'sashram close toAhmedabad. She participated in daily chores including dairy work and spinning. She also worked in the office that used to publishYoung India.[6]
Pandit was the first Indian woman to hold a cabinet post in pre-independent India. In 1936, she stood in general elections and became a member of parliament by 1937 for the constituency of Cawnpore Bilhaur.[7] In 1937, she was elected to the provincial legislature of theUnited Provinces and was designated minister of local self-government and public health.[8][9] She held the latter post until 1938 and again from 1946 to 1947.[10][11]
She spent significant time in jail for her participation in the Indian independence movement. She was jailed for 18 months from 1931 to 1933. She was jailed again for 6 months in 1940 before getting jailed in 1942 for 7 months over her participation in theQuit India Movement.[12][7] After her release, she helped the victims of theBengal famine of 1943 and served as president of theSave the Children Fund Committee which rescued poor children from the streets.[7]
Following the death of her husband in 1944, she experienced Indian inheritance laws for Hindu widows and campaigned withAll India Women's Conference to bring changes to these laws.[7]
In 1944, she visited theUnited States to raise awareness about the Indian affairs among the American people in order to counter the anti-Indian propaganda there.[13]
In 1946, she was elected to theConstituent Assembly from the United Provinces.[14]
Following India's independence from British rule in 1947 she entered the diplomatic service and becameIndia's ambassador to the Soviet Union from 1947 to 1949,[15][16] the United States and Mexico from 1949 to 1951,[17][18] Ireland from 1955 to 1961 (during which time she was also the IndianHigh Commissioner to the United Kingdom),[19] and Spain from 1956 to 1961.[20] Between 1946 and 1968, she headed the Indian delegation to the United Nations. In 1953, she became the first womanPresident of the United Nations General Assembly[21] (she was inducted as an honorary member of theAlpha Kappa Alpha sorority in 1978 for this accomplishment[22]). That same year she was a candidate forSecretary General of the United Nations.[23]
Hon. Members Shrimati Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit has resigned her seat in the House with effect from 17 December 1954.[24]
In India, she served asGovernor of Maharashtra from 1962 to 1964. She returned as a member of parliament for 1964 to 1968 with her election victory inPhulpur.[7][25] Pandit was a harsh critic ofIndira Gandhi's years as prime minister especially after Indira had declared theemergency in 1975.[7]
Pandit retired from active politics after relations between them soured. On retiring, she moved toDehradun in theDoon Valley in the Himalayan foothills.[26] She came out of retirement in 1977 to campaign against Indira Gandhi and helped theJanata Party win the 1977 election.[27] She was reported to have considered running for the presidency, butNeelam Sanjiva Reddy eventually ran and won the election unopposed.[28]
In 1979, she was appointed the Indian representative to theUN Human Rights Commission, after which she retired from public life. Her writings includeThe Evolution of India (1958) andThe Scope of Happiness: A Personal Memoir (1979).
In 1921, she marriedRanjit Sitaram Pandit (1921–1944), a successful barrister fromKathiawar,Gujarat and classical scholar who translatedKalhana's epic historyRajatarangini into English fromSanskrit. Her husband was a Maharashtrian Saraswat Brahmin, whose family hailed from village of Bambuli, on the Ratnagiri coast, in Maharashtra. He was arrested for his support of Indian independence and died in Lucknow prison in 1944, leaving behind his wife and their three daughters Chandralekha Mehta, Nayantara Sehgal and Rita Dar.
She died in 1990. She was survived by her daughters, Chandralekha andNayantara Sahgal.
She was the member ofAligarh Muslim University Executive Council.[29]
She was an Honorary Fellow ofSomerville College, Oxford, where her niece studied Modern History.[30] A portrait of her byEdward Halliday hangs in theSomerville College Library.[31]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)Spain and India had decided in May 1956 to establish diplomatic relations at Embassy level, and now made her the first woman, and probably the first diplomat, to hold three ambassadorships simultaneously. She visited Madrid to present her credentials on October 30, 1957, and was officially photographed with General Franco.
| Diplomatic posts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Indian Ambassador to the United States 1949–1952 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of the United Nations General Assembly 1953 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by none | Ambassador of India to the Soviet Union 1947–1949 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | High Commission of India to the United Kingdom 1954–1961 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Governor of Maharashtra 1962–1964 | Succeeded by |
| 1940s | |
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| 1950s | |
| 1960s | |
| 1970s |
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| 1980s | |
| 1990s | |
| 2000s | |
| 2010s | |
| 2020s | |
| Organizations | |
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| Award presented to civil servants | |
| Indian Administrative Service officers | |
| Indian Police Service officers | |
| Indian Foreign Service officers | |
| Indian Forest Service officers | |
