Sarojini Naidu
Sarojini Naidu (14 February 1879 – 2 March 1949)[1] was an Indian political activist and poet who served as the first Governor of United Provinces, after India's independence. She played an important role in the Indian independence movement against the British Raj. She was the first Indian woman to be president of the Indian National Congress and appointed as governor of a state.
Sarojini Naidu
Position established
13 February 1879
Hyderabad, Hyderabad State, British Raj
(present-day Telangana, India)
2 March 1949 (aged 70)
Lucknow, United Provinces, India
(present-day Uttar Pradesh, India)
5, including Padmaja
- Virendranath (brother)
- Harindranath (brother)
- Suhasini (sister)
Political activist, Poet
- "Nightingale of India"
- "Bhārata Kōkiḷā"
- "Bulbul-e-Hind"
English
- The Golden Threshold
- "In the Bazaars of Hyderabad"
Born in a Bengali family in Hyderabad, Naidu was educated in Madras, London and Cambridge. Following her time in Britain, where she worked as a suffragist, she was drawn to the Congress party's struggle for India's independence. She became a part of the national movement and became a follower of Mahatma Gandhi and his idea of swaraj (self rule). She was appointed Congress president in 1925 and, when India achieved its independence, became Governor of the United Provinces in 1947.
Naidu's literary work as a poet earned her the nickname the "Nightingale of India" by Gandhi because of the colour, imagery and lyrical quality of her poetry. Her œuvre includes both children's poems and others written on more serious themes including patriotism and tragedy. Published in 1912, "In the Bazaars of Hyderabad" remains one of her most popular poems.
