Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit

2025-10-31T18:57:20Z

2409:4072:610D:2F29:0:0:906:60A0:

{{short description|Indian freedom fighter, diplomat and politician (1900–1990)}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image = Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit.jpg
| honorific_prefix = [[Her Excellency]]
| caption = Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit {{c.}} 1938
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1900|08|18}}
| birth_place = [[Prayagraj]], [[India]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1990|12|01|1900|08|18}}
| death_place = [[Dehradun]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[India]] <br /> (present-day [[Uttarakhand]])
| spouse = {{marriage| [[Ranjit Sitaram Pandit]]|1921|1944| end=died}}
| children = 3, including [[Nayantara Sahgal]]
| relatives = See [[Nehru–Gandhi family]]
| parents = [[Motilal Nehru]]<br /> [[Swarup Rani Nehru]]
| signature = Signature of Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit.svg
| website =
| residence =
| office = [[President of the United Nations General Assembly|8th President of the United Nations General Assembly]]
| term_start = 15 September 1953
| term_end = 21 September 1954<ref>{{Cite web |title=Presidents of the General Assembly {{!}} United Nations |url=http://worldleadersindex.org/InternationalOrganisations/UN.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011221841/http://worldleadersindex.org/InternationalOrganisations/UN.html |archive-date=11 October 2012 |access-date=22 March 2012 |website=[[Wayback Machine]]}}</ref>
| vicepresident =
| predecessor = [[Lester B. Pearson]]
| successor = [[Eelco N. van Kleffens]]
| office2 = Governor of Maharashtra
| order2 = 3rd
| term_start2 = 28 November 1962
| term_end2 = 18 October 1964
| 1blankname2 = Chief Minister
| 1namedata2 = [[Marotrao Kannamwar]] <br /> {{efn|[[P. K. Sawant]] (''interim'')}} <br /> [[Vasantrao Naik]]
| predecessor2 = [[P. Subbarayan]]
| successor2 = [[P. V. Cherian]]
| office3 = [[Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha]]
| constituency3 = [[Phulpur Lok Sabha constituency|Phulpur]]
| term3 = 1964–1969
| predecessor3 = [[Jawaharlal Nehru]]
| successor3 = [[Janeshwar Mishra]]
| constituency4 = [[Lucknow Lok Sabha constituency|Lucknow]]
| term4 = 1952–1955
| predecessor4 = constituency established
| successor4 = [[Sheorajvati Nehru]]
| party = [[Indian National Congress]]
| footnotes =
| date =
| year =
| source =
| birth_name = Swarup Nehru
}}

'''Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit''' (''[[née]]'' '''Swarup''' '''Nehru''';<ref name=":0" /> 18 August 1900 – 1 December 1990) was an Indian freedom fighter, diplomat and politician. She served as the 8th [[President 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 3rd [[Governor of Maharashtra]] from 1962 to 1964. Noted for her participation in the [[Indian 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 the [[Soviet Union]], the [[United States]] and the [[United Nations]].<ref>Rakesh Ankit, "Between Vanity and Sensitiveness: Indo–British Relations During Vijayalakshmi Pandit’s High-Commissioner (1954–61)." ''Contemporary British History'' 30.1 (2016): 20–39.</ref> Hailing from the prominent [[Nehru-Gandhi family|Nehru-Gandhi]] political family, her brother [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] was the first [[Prime Minister of India|prime minister]] of [[independent India]].

==Early life==
Vijaya Lakshmi's (born Swarup)<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Nehru |first=Krishna |title=With No Regrets: An Autobiography |publisher=[[The John Day Company]] |year=1945 |isbn= |location=New York}}</ref> father, [[Motilal Nehru]] (1861–1931), a wealthy barrister who belonged to the [[Kashmiri Pandit]] community,{{sfn|Moraes|2008|p=4}} served twice as [[President of the Indian National Congress]] during the [[Indian Independence Movement|Independence Struggle]]. Her mother, [[Swaruprani Thussu]] (1868–1938), who came from a well-known Kashmiri Pandit family settled in [[Lahore]],<ref>Zakaria, Rafiq ''A Study of Nehru'', Times of India Press, 1960, p. 22</ref> was Motilal's second wife, the first having died in child birth. She was the second of three children; [[Jawaharlal Nehru|Jawaharlal]] was eleven years her senior (b. 1889), while her younger sister [[Krishna Hutheesing]] (1907–1967) became a noted writer and authored several books on their brother.

== Career ==
[[File:Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit 1965b.jpg|thumb|upright|Pandit in the [[Netherlands]], 1965]]
[[File:Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit at The Doon School.jpg|thumb|Pandit as a Chief Guest at [[The Doon School]], Dehradun, in the 1960s.]]

She attended the 1916 Congress session that took place in Lucknow. She was impressed by [[Sarojini Naidu]] and [[Annie Besant]].<ref name="Smith"/>

In 1920, she spent time in [[Mahatma Gandhi]]'s [[Sabarmati Ashram|ashram]] close to [[Ahmedabad]]. She participated in daily chores including dairy work and spinning. She also worked in the office that used to publish ''[[Young India]]''.<ref name="Smith">{{cite book | last=Smith | first=B.G. | title=The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History | publisher=Oxford University Press | issue=v. 1 | year=2008 | isbn=978-0-19-514890-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EFI7tr9XK6EC&pg=RA2-PA406 | page=2-PA406}}</ref>

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.<ref name="helen"/> In 1937, she was elected to the provincial legislature of the [[United Provinces (1937–50)|United Provinces]] and was designated minister of local self-government and public health.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pandit |first=Vijaya Lakshmi |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/dli.ministry.22874/page/141/mode/2up?view=theater |title=So I became a Minister |publisher=Kitabistan |year=1939 |location=Allahabad |pages=141–143 |chapter=First Person, Singular |access-date=11 September 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://indianculture.gov.in/artefacts-museums/welcome-address-218 |title=Welcome address from Chairman of Municipal Board, Agra, to Smt. Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit honouring her as Minister of Local Self Government and Health, and highlighting the poor civic conditions of Agra |publisher=Sainik Press |year=1938 |location=Allahabad |language=Hindi |access-date=12 September 2022 |via=[[Allahabad Museum]]}}</ref> She held the latter post until 1938 and again from 1946 to 1947.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Khan |first=Abdul Majid |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.121087/page/n153/mode/2up?view=theater |title=The Great Daughter of India |publisher=Indian Printing Works |year=1946 |location=Lahore |pages=152 |chapter=Lakshmi Resigns |access-date=12 September 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Pandit |first=Vijaya Lakshmi |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/scopeofhappiness00pand/page/200/mode/2up?view=theater |title=The Scope of Happiness: A Personal Memoir |publisher=Crown Publishers Inc. |year=1979 |isbn=0-517-53688-9 |location=New York |pages=200–201, 203, 204–205 |chapter=Interim Government |access-date=12 September 2022 |chapter-url-access=registration}}</ref>

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 the [[Quit India Movement]].<ref>{{cite book | last=Bhagavan | first=M. | title=India and the Quest for One World: The Peacemakers | publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK | series=Palgrave Macmillan Transnational History Series | year=2013 | isbn=978-1-137-34983-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jfXRAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA14 | page=14}}</ref><ref name="helen">{{cite book | last=Rappaport | first=Helen | title=Encyclopedia of Women Social Reformers | publisher=ABC-CLIO | issue=v. 1 | year=2001 | isbn=978-1-57607-101-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rpuSzowmIkgC&pg=PA507 |page=507}}</ref> After her release, she helped the victims of the [[Bengal famine of 1943]] and served as president of the ''Save the Children Fund Committee'' which rescued poor children from the streets.<ref name="helen"/>

Following the death of her husband in 1944, she experienced Indian inheritance laws for Hindu widows and campaigned with [[All India Women's Conference]] to bring changes to these laws.<ref name="helen"/>

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.<ref name="b289">{{cite book | last1=Grover | first1=V. | last2=Arora | first2=R. | title=Great Women of Modern India: Vija ya Lakshmi Pandit | publisher=Deep & Deep Publications | year=1993 | isbn=978-81-7100-458-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UP1XHGF7yBcC&pg=PA185 | language=id | access-date=2024-10-18 | page=185}}</ref>

In 1946, she was elected to the [[Constituent Assembly of India|Constituent Assembly]] from the United Provinces.<ref>Pandit, Vijaya Lakshmi (1979). "Interim Government". ''[https://archive.org/details/scopeofhappiness00pand/page/224/mode/2up?view=theater The Scope of Happiness: A Personal Memoir]''. New York: Crown Publishers Inc. p. 225. {{ISBN|0-517-53688-9}}. Retrieved 12 September 2022.</ref>

Following India's independence from British rule in 1947 she entered the diplomatic service and became [[Ambassador of India to the Soviet Union|India's ambassador to the Soviet Union]] from 1947 to 1949,<ref>{{Cite news |date=7 June 1947 |title=India's Ambassador to Moscow: Mrs. V. L. Pandit's choice certain |volume=15 |page=1 |work=The Indian Express |issue=83 |location=Madras |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ldc-AAAAIBAJ&sjid=WkwMAAAAIBAJ&pg=7115%2C5998923 |access-date=11 September 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.abhilekh-patal.in/jspui/handle/123456789/1451141 |title=Appointment of Mrs. Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit as Ambassador for India in USSR and fixation of her pay and allowance |publisher=Department of External Affairs and Commonwealth Relations: External Affairs Wing |year=1947 |location=New Delhi |pages=11 |access-date=11 September 2022 |url-access=registration |via=[[National Archives of India]]}}</ref> the United States and Mexico from 1949 to 1951,<ref>{{Cite news |date=8 May 1949 |title=Woman Ambassador |volume=65 |page=33 |work=The Pittsburgh Press |issue=316 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=1T4bAAAAIBAJ&sjid=P00EAAAAIBAJ&pg=2222%2C3493675 |access-date=11 September 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.abhilekh-patal.in/jspui/handle/123456789/1451087 |title=Appointment of Shrimati Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit as Ambassador in U.S.A. succession to Shri B.Rama Rau I.C.S. and fixation of her pay and allowances. Grant of Joining time to H.E., Shrimati Vijaya Lakshmi Ambassador of India in USA. Grant of free air passage to Shrimati Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit and her daughter.......... |publisher=Press Information Bureau |year=1949 |location=New Delhi |pages=33 |access-date=11 September 2022 |url-access=registration |via=[[National Archives of India]]}}</ref> Ireland from 1955 to 1961 (during which time she was also the Indian [[High Commissioner]] to the United Kingdom),<ref>{{Cite journal |last=O'Malley |first=Kate |title=Ireland and India: Post-independence Diplomacy |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41413198 |journal=Irish Studies in International Affairs |year=2011 |publisher=Royal Irish Academy |volume=22 |pages=152–153 |doi=10.1353/isia.2011.0004 |jstor=41413198 |access-date=12 September 2022 }}</ref> and Spain from 1956 to 1961.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brittain |first=Vera |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/envoyextraordina0000unse/page/134/mode/2up?view=theater |title=Envoy Extraordinary: A Study of Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit and her contribution to Modern India |publisher=George Allen & Unwin Ltd. |year=1965 |location=London |page=135 |chapter=The Conquest of Britain |quote="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." |author-link=Vera Brittain |access-date=12 September 2022 |chapter-url-access=registration}}</ref> Between 1946 and 1968, she headed the Indian delegation to the United Nations. In 1953, she became the first woman [[President of the United Nations General Assembly]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/Pandit,%2BVijaya |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111026173659/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/Pandit%2C+Vijaya |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 October 2011 |title=Vijay Lakshmi Pandit |first=online |last=Oxford Dictionaries |access-date=2 July 2012}}</ref> (she was inducted as an honorary member of the [[Alpha Kappa Alpha]] sorority in 1978 for this accomplishment<ref>{{cite web|url=http://aka1908.com/centennial/history/index.html|title=Alpha Kappa Alpha 1978|access-date=14 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141226064143/http://www.aka1908.com/centennial/history/index.html|archive-date=26 December 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>). That same year she was a candidate for [[Secretary General of the United Nations]].<ref>{{cite book|title=United Nations Affairs | url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1952-54v03 | series=Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954 | volume=3 | editor-last=Goodwin | editor-first=Ralph R. | year=1979 | location=[[Washington D.C.]] | publisher=[[United States Government Printing Office]]|page=Document 209}}</ref>

Hon. Members Shrimati Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit has resigned her seat in the House with effect from 17 December 1954.<ref>{{cite book |title=Lok Sabha Debates Vol VII, 1954 |date=1954 |publisher=Lok Sabha Secretariat New Delhi |pages=12 |url=https://eparlib.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/56278/1/lsd_01_08_18-12-1954.pdf}}</ref>

In India, she served as [[List of governors of Maharashtra|Governor of Maharashtra]] from 1962 to 1964. She returned as a member of parliament for 1964 to 1968 with her election victory in [[Phulpur, Allahabad|Phulpur]].<ref name="helen"/><ref>{{Cite book |last=Malaviya |first=Padma Kant |url=https://www.abhilekh-patal.in/jspui/handle/123456789/2687214 |title=P.K. Malaviya analyses election defeat and congratulates Mrs. Vijay Lakshmi on her victory in Phulpur Lok Sabha election |location=New Delhi |pages=1 |access-date=12 September 2022 |url-access=registration |via=[[National Archives of India]]}}</ref> Pandit was a harsh critic of [[Indira Gandhi]]'s years as prime minister especially after Indira had declared the [[The Emergency (India)|emergency]] in 1975.<ref name="helen"/>

Pandit retired from active politics after relations between them soured. On retiring, she moved to [[Dehradun]] in the [[Doon Valley]] in the Himalayan foothills.<ref>[http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1976/10/31/357037032.html?pageNumber=11 Indira Gandhi's Aunt Says She Is 'Profoundly Troubled' at Direction India Is Taking], ''NY Times'', 31 October 1976</ref> She came out of retirement in 1977 to campaign against Indira Gandhi and helped the [[Janata Party]] win the 1977 election.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/22/world/new-delhi-journal-sister-burnishes-nehru-s-image-lest-india-forget.html Sister Burnishes Nehru's Image, Lest India Forget], ''NY Times'', 22 May 1989</ref> She was reported to have considered running for the presidency, but [[Neelam Sanjiva Reddy]] eventually ran and won the election unopposed.<ref>[http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1977/05/27/356234792.html?pageNumber=8 Nehru's Sister Campaigning for Presidency of India], ''NY Times'',</ref>

In 1979, she was appointed the Indian representative to the [[UN Human Rights Commission]], after which she retired from public life. Her writings include ''The Evolution of India'' (1958) and ''The Scope of Happiness: A Personal Memoir'' (1979).

==Personal life==

In 1921, she married [[Ranjit Sitaram Pandit]] (1921–1944), a successful barrister from [[Kathiawar]], [[Gujarat]] and classical scholar who translated [[Kalhana]]'s epic history [[Rajatarangini]] into English from [[Sanskrit]]. 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 and [[Nayantara Sahgal]].

== Academics ==
[[File:Nehru and Indira Gandhi visit Einstein.jpg|right|thumb|Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit along with Indira Gandhi and Nehru visit Albert Einstein]]
She was the member of [[Aligarh Muslim University]] Executive Council.<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.batori.in/national/2015/12/10/nayantara-sahgal-delivers-6th-k-p-singh-memorial-lecture/|title = Nayantara Sahgal delivers 6th K P Singh Memorial Lecture|date = 10 December 2015|access-date = 10 December 2015|website = Batori|publisher = Batori.in|last = Batori|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151211063957/https://www.batori.in/national/2015/12/10/nayantara-sahgal-delivers-6th-k-p-singh-memorial-lecture/|archive-date = 11 December 2015|url-status = dead}}</ref>

She was an Honorary Fellow of [[Somerville College, Oxford]], where her niece studied Modern History.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.abhilekh-patal.in/jspui/handle/123456789/1398954 |title=Visit of Shrimati Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit former Governor of Maharashtra to London to receive the Honorary Degree {{as written|of of}} D.C.L. from the Oxford University – Payment of air fare from Bombay to London & back. |publisher=Ministry of External Affairs |year=1965 |location=New Delhi |pages=1–21 |access-date=11 September 2022 |url-access=registration |via=[[National Archives of India]]}}</ref> A portrait of her by [[Edward Halliday]] hangs in the [[Somerville College Library]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=11 September 2022 |title=Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit |url=https://edu.admin.ox.ac.uk/people/vijaya-lakshmi-pandit |website=Equality and Diversity Unit, University of Oxford}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of political families]]
* [[History of Indian foreign relations]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Ankit, Rakesh. "''Between Vanity and Sensitiveness'': Indo–British Relations During Vijayalakshmi Pandit's High-Commissionership (1954–61)". ''Contemporary British History'' 30:1 (2016): 20–39. {{doi|10.1080/13619462.2015.1049262}}.
* {{cite book |last=Gupta |first=Indra |year=2004 |title=India's 50 Most Illustrious Women |location=New Delhi |publisher=Icon Publications |isbn=81-88086-19-3 |oclc=858639936}}
* Menon, Parvathi (2023). "Vijayalakshmi Pandit: Gendering and Racing against the Postcolonial Predicament" in Immi Tallgren (ed.) ''[https://global.oup.com/academic/product/portraits-of-women-in-international-law-9780198868453?cc=gb&lang=en&# Portraits of Women in International Law]'' (Oxford University Press, 2023).

==External links==
{{commons category|Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit}}
{{wikiquote}}
* {{Internet Archive film clip|id=gov.archives.arc.95854|description="Longines Chronoscope with Mme. Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit"}}
{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}
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{{succession box|title=[[Indian Ambassador to the United States]]|before=[[Asaf Ali]]|after=[[Gaganvihari Lallubhai Mehta]]|years=1949–1952}}
{{succession box|before=[[Lester B. Pearson]]|title=[[President of the United Nations General Assembly]]|years=1953|after=[[Eelco N. van Kleffens]]}}
{{succession box|before= none |title=[[Ambassador of India to the Soviet Union]]|years=1947–1949|after=[[Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan]]}}
{{succession box|title=[[High Commission of India to the United Kingdom]]|before=[[B. G. Kher]]|after=[[M. C. Chagla]]|years=1954–1961}}
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{{succession box|title=[[List of governors of Maharashtra|Governor of Maharashtra]]|before=[[P. Subbarayan]]|after=[[P. V. Cherian]]|years=1962–1964}}
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{{Presidents of the UN General Assembly}}
{{Padma Vibhushan Awards}}
{{Indian civil servants}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pandit, Vijaya Lakshmi}}
[[Category:1900 births]]
[[Category:1990 deaths]]
[[Category:India MPs 1952–1957]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women politicians]]
[[Category:India MPs 1962–1967]]
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[[Category:Ambassadors of India to Ireland]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of India to Mexico]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of India to Spain]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of India to the Soviet Union]]
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[[Category:Fellows of Somerville College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Governors of Maharashtra]]
[[Category:High commissioners of India to the United Kingdom]]
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[[Category:Kashmiri Pandits]]
[[Category:Kashmiri politicians]]
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[[Category:Politicians from Prayagraj]]
[[Category:Politicians from Lucknow]]
[[Category:Presidents of the United Nations General Assembly]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of British India]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in civil service]]
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[[Category:Indian women diplomats]]

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Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit