->Slezeen at 17:25, 18 December 2021

2021-12-18T17:25:50Z

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{{Short description|Former First Lady of Nepal}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Sushila Koirala
| image = BP Koirala with wife Sushila (cropped).jpg
| caption = Sushila Koirala
| office = [[Prime minister of Nepal|Spouse of the prime minister of Nepal]]
| term_start = 27 May 1959
| term_end = 15 December 1960
| monarch = [[King Mahendra]]
| primeminister = [[B. P. Koirala]]
| birth_name = Sushila Dahal
| birth_date = {{Birth year|1923| | |df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Kapilvastu Municipality]], [[Lumbini Province]], [[Kingdom of Nepal]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2007|7|13|1923| | |df=y}}
| death_place = [[Kathmandu]], [[Nepal]]
| nationality = Nepalese
| party = [[Nepali Congress]]
| parents = Kamal Prasad Dahal (Father)
| spouse = [[B. P. Koirala]] (m. 1936 – 1982; his death)
| children = {{plainlist|
*[[Prakash Koirala]] (son)
* [[Shashanka Koirala]] (son)
* Shreeharsh Koirala (son)
* Chetana Koirala (daughter)
}}
| relatives = [[Koirala family]]
| alma_mater = [[Banaras Hindu University]]
}}
'''Sushila Koirala''' ({{Lang-ne|सुशीला कोइराला}}; 1923 – 13 July 2007) was a Nepalese [[Indian classical dance|classical dancer]] and [[theater director]]. She was the spouse of [[B. P. Koirala]], the first ever democratically elected [[prime minister of Nepal]]. She was known for her contribution towards Nepali art, theatre, and girls’ empowerment; and for backstopping in democratic activities during the critical and raw era of social change and politics in [[Nepal]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Singh|first=Rishi|date=14 July 2007|title=Obituary: Sushila Koirala: A ‘courteous’ lady who was also ‘beautiful’|url=https://thehimalayantimes.com/kathmandu/obituary-sushila-koirala-a-ae%cb%9ccourteousae-lady-who-was-also-ae%cb%9cbeautifulae|access-date=24 June 2021|website=The Himalayan Times|language=en|archive-date=24 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624120233/https://thehimalayantimes.com/kathmandu/obituary-sushila-koirala-a-ae%CB%9Ccourteousae-lady-who-was-also-ae%CB%9Cbeautifulae|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=-|url=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=13771|url-status=live|access-date=24 June 2021|website=Nepali Times|archive-date=24 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624155050/http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=13771}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
Sushila Koirala was born in 1923 in [[Kapilvastu Municipality|Kapilvastu]] in [[Lumbini Province|Lumbini]], [[Kingdom of Nepal|Nepal]]. She married [[B. P. Koirala]] in 1936 and went to [[Biratnagar]]. She attended and completed school level education there in Biratngar. Later she studied at [[Banaras Hindu University]] in [[Banaras]] in [[India]]. She also studied [[Bharatanatyam|Bharatnatyam]] and [[Kathak]], major two forms of [[Indian classical dance]] there in India. Sushila Koirala was also trained in Manipuri dance. Her husband [[B. P. Koirala]] has described her as "young and slim" in his autobiography entitled [[Atmabrittanta]], and has added that she survived [[Visceral leishmaniasis|kala-azar]].<ref name=":0" />

Sushila Koirala died on 13 July 2007 in Kathmandu, Nepal.<ref name=":1" />

== Career ==
Sushila Koirala has always believed that art, dance and music are Universal languages that unite everything and everyone around. In 1959, her husband had become the Prime Minister but she was never comfortable with the trappings of power around her. Rather, she decided to open a dance institute in Biratnagar and established a dance center at her home there. Which was possibly the first classical dance center in Nepal. She would visit her husband in Kathmandu casually only during the necessity of her presence as the [[first lady]] of the country. It is said that, once the then royal couple of Nepal asked her why she was not in Kathmandu acting as the hostess to her Prime Minister husband, and she responded saying she had to give time to her dance center in Biratnagar.<ref name=":saa">{{Cite web|url=https://www.sushilaartsacademy.com/about|title=Sushila Arts Academy|website=www.sushilaartsacademy.com}}</ref>

When Sushila Koirala was in [[Patna]] in [[India]] during 1950s, she actively worked to establish a performing art institution there too. She and her friends like [[Hari Uppal]] collected donation fund by door to door campaign to establish [[Bhartiya Nritya Kala Mandir]] there in Patna. They laid the foundation stone for the building of the institution in 1950. The institution was later got fully established and opened in 1963 when Koirala was facing the consequences of political crisis in Nepal.<ref name=":saa"/><ref name=":0" />

Sushila Koirala made use of her dancing skills to earn money for the family during difficult times of her husband's imprisonment after 15 December 1960.<ref name=":0" />

== Legacy ==
Sushila Koirala was passionate about dancing and she always wanted to open an [[Art school|art academy]] in Nepal. Koirala's granddaughter-in-law Yulia, opened Sushila Arts Academy named after her in [[Kathmandu]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Singh|first=Rishi|date=20 May 2007|title=Sushila Koirala honoured|url=https://thehimalayantimes.com/kathmandu/sushila-koirala-honoured|access-date=24 June 2021|website=The Himalayan Times|language=en|archive-date=11 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170311223931/http://thehimalayantimes.com/kathmandu/sushila-koirala-honoured/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Theater group [[Aarohan Gurukul]] has named one of its theatre halls in [[Biratnagar]] as ''Sushila Koirala Theater'' on her honour. She was the first ever [[theater director]] from the city. She had directed the play '''[[:ne:म (नाटक)|Ma]]''' by [[Balkrishna Sama]] in the year 1951.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nitfest.org/2019/venue/aarohan-biratnagar/|title=Sushila Koirala Theatre (Aarohan Gurukul)}}</ref><ref name="sr01">{{cite journal |last=Rijal|first=Shiva |date= June 2015 |journal=Studies in Nepali History and Society |publisher= Martin Chautari |pages=169–187|title=JOURNEY TO THE MARKET PLACE: CONTEMPORARY NEPALI THEATER IN A CROSSROAD|issn= 1025-5109}}</ref>

== Honour and accolades ==
In 2007, Sushila Koirala was honored with the Gangadevi Chaudhari Memorial Honor for "her contribution in women empowerment and awareness".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Singh|first=Rishi|date=20 May 2007|title=Sushila Koirala honoured|url=https://thehimalayantimes.com/kathmandu/sushila-koirala-honoured|access-date=24 June 2021|website=The Himalayan Times|language=en|archive-date=11 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170311223931/http://thehimalayantimes.com/kathmandu/sushila-koirala-honoured/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":saa"/>

== See also ==

* [[B. P. Koirala]]
* [[Girija Prasad Koirala]]
* [[Manisha Koirala]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Nepal-bio-stub}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koirala, Sushila}}
[[Category:1923 births]]
[[Category:2007 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Kapilvastu District]]
[[Category:Koirala family|S]]
[[Category:Banaras Hindu University alumni]]
[[Category:Spouses of prime ministers of Nepal]]
[[Category:20th-century Nepalese dancers]]
[[Category:Nepalese dancers]]
[[Category:Nepalese theatre directors]]
[[Category:21st-century Nepalese dancers]]
[[Category:Nepalese Hindus]]

Sushila Koirala - Revision history

->Slezeen at 17:25, 18 December 2021