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<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{short description|Indian diplomat and politician}}<br />
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2015}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}<br />
{{Infobox officeholder<br />
| image = Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit 1965b.jpg<br />
| honorific_prefix = [[Her Excellency]]<br />
| caption = Pandit in the [[Netherlands]], 1965<br />
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1900|08|18}}<br />
| birth_place = [[Allahabad]], [[North-Western Provinces]], [[British India]]<br />
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1990|12|01|1900|08|18}}<br />
| death_place = [[Dehradun]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[India]] <br /> (present-day [[Uttarakhand]])<br />
| spouse = [[Ranjit Sitaram Pandit]]<br />
| children = 3, including [[Nayantara Sahgal]]<br />
| relatives = See [[Nehru–Gandhi family]]<br />
| parents = [[Motilal Nehru|Pandit Motilal Nehru]]<br /> [[Swarup Rani Nehru]]<br />
| signature = Signature of Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit.svg<br />
| website = <br />
| residence = <br />
| office = [[President of the United Nations General Assembly|8th President of the United Nations General Assembly]]<br />
| term_start = 15 September 1953<br />
| 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><br />
| vicepresident = <br />
| predecessor = [[Lester B. Pearson]]<br />
| successor = [[Eelco N. van Kleffens]]<br />
| office2 = Governor of Maharashtra<br />
| order2 = 6th<br />
| term_start2 = 28 November 1962<br />
| term_end2 = 18 October 1964<br />
| 1blankname2 = Chief Minister<br />
| 1namedata2 = [[Marotrao Kannamwar]] <br /> [[P. K. Sawant]] <br /> [[Vasantrao Naik]]<br />
| predecessor2 = [[P. Subbarayan]]<br />
| successor2 = [[P. V. Cherian]]<br />
| office3 = [[Member of parliament, Lok Sabha]]<br />
| constituency3 = [[Phulpur (Lok Sabha constituency)|Phulpur]]<br />
| term3 = 1967–1971<br />
| predecessor3 = [[Jawaharlal Nehru]]<br />
| successor3 = [[V. P. Singh]]<br />
| party = [[Indian National Congress]]<br />
| footnotes = <br />
| date = <br />
| year = <br />
| source = <br />
| birth_name = Vijaya Lakshmi Nehru<br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit''' (''[[née]]'' '''Nehru'''; 18 August 1900 – 1 December 1990) was an Indian diplomat and politician who was the first woman appointed to 6th [[Governor of Maharashtra]] and 8th [[President of the United Nations General Assembly]]. Hailing from a prominent political family, her brother [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] was the first [[Prime Minister of India|Prime Minister]] of [[independent India]], her niece [[Indira Gandhi]] the first female [[Prime Minister of India]] and her grand-nephew [[Rajiv Gandhi]] was the sixth [[Prime Minister of India]]. Pandit was sent to London as India's most important diplomat after serving as Nehru's envoy to the Soviet Union, the United States and the United Nations. Her time in London offers insights into the wider context of changes in Indo–British relations. Her High-Commissionership was a microcosm of inter-governmental relations.<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><br />
<br />
==Personal life==<br />
Vijaya Lakshmi's 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]] (b. 1907-1967) became a noted writer and authored several books on their brother.<br />
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In 1921, she was married to [[Ranjit Sitaram Pandit]] (1893–1944), 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.<br />
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In 1919, she secretly married Syud Hossain, a Muslim journalist and later first Indian Ambassador to Cairo,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Embassy of India, Cairo, Egypt : List of former Ambassadors|url=https://www.eoicairo.gov.in/page/previous/|access-date=2021-10-30|website=www.eoicairo.gov.in}}</ref> but [[Mahatma Gandhi]] and, family members like [[Jawaharlal Nehru|Pandit Nehru]], separated the couple.<ref>{{cite news|last=Kumar|first=Anuj|date=3 August 2016|title=View from the other side|newspaper=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/View-from-the-other-side/article14549245.ece|access-date=8 August 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/VZRnPzaeVMkfvHvgM5cHcO/Excerpt-Mr-and-Mrs-Jinnah.html|title=Excerpt: Mr and Mrs Jinnah|first=Sheela|last=Reddy|date=17 March 2017|website=mint}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=MERCHANT |first=MINHAZ |date= 31 March 2017 |title=Mrs Jinnah's love jihad in Mahatma Gandhi's time |url=https://www.dailyo.in/politics/mr-and-mrs-jinnah-gandhi-nehru-vijayalakshmi-pandit/story/1/16465.html |website=www.dailyo.in}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Syud Hossain: A Fascinating Footnote from India’s Freedom Struggle|url=https://thewire.in/books/book-review-syud-hossain-freedom-struggle|access-date=2021-10-30|website=The Wire}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Syud Hossain: A forgotten ambassador brought back to life|url=https://www.southasiamonitor.org/books/syud-hossain-forgotten-ambassador-brought-back-life|access-date=2021-10-30|website=South Asia Monitor|language=en}}</ref><br />
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She died in the year of 1990.<br />
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Her daughter Chandralekha was married to Ashok Mehta and has three children- Arjun, Minakshi and Manjari. Her second daughter [[Nayantara Sahgal]], is a well-known novelist. She was married to Gautam Sahgal and had three children - Nonika her eldest daughter, son Ranjit, and her youngest daughter Gita Sahgal. Nayantara married E. N. Mangat Rai in 1979. Her third daughter was Rita who was married to Avatar Krishna Dhar and has two children, son Gopal, and daughter Jyoti. She worked in Redcross.<br />
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[[Gita Sahgal]], Nayantara's youngest child, is the writer and journalist on issues of feminism, fundamentalism, and racism, director of prize-winning documentary films, and [[human rights activist]], is one of her granddaughters.<br />
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== Political career ==<br />
[[File:Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit.jpg|thumb|upright|Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit in 1938]]<br />
[[File:Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit at The Doon School.jpg|thumb|Pandit as a Chief Guest at [[The Doon School]], Dehradun, in the 1960s.]]<br />
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Pandit was the first Indian woman to hold a cabinet post in pre-independent India. 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. She held the latter post until 1938 and again from 1946 to 1947. In 1946, she was elected to the [[Constituent Assembly of India|Constituent Assembly]] from the United Provinces.<br />
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Following India's freedom from British occupation 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, the United States and Mexico from 1949 to 1951, Ireland from 1955 to 1961 (during which time she was also the Indian [[High Commissioner]] to the United Kingdom), and Spain from 1958 to 1961. 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 |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>).<br />
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Hon. Members that 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=18 December 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><br />
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In India, she served as [[List of governors of Maharashtra|Governor of Maharashtra]] from 1962 to 1964, after which she was elected to the Indian parliament's lower house, [[Lok Sabha]], from [[Phulpur, Allahabad|Phulpur]], her brother's former constituency from 1964 to 1968. Pandit was a harsh critic of [[Indira Gandhi]]'s years as Prime Minister especially after her niece had declared the [[The Emergency (India)|emergency]].<br />
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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><br />
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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).<br />
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== Academics ==<br />
[[File:Nehru and Indira Gandhi visit Einstein.jpg|right|thumb|Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit along with Indira Gandhi and Nehru visit Albert Einstein]]<br />
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 never received any formal education.<br />
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She was an Honorary Fellow of [[Somerville College, Oxford]], where her niece studied Modern History. A portrait of her by [[Edward Halliday]] hangs in the [[Somerville College Library]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}}<br />
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==See also==<br />
*[[List of political families]]<br />
* [[History of Indian foreign relations]]<br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
<br />
==Further reading==<br />
* 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}}.<br />
* {{cite book |last=Gupta |first=Indra |year=2004 |title=India's 50 Most Illustrious Women |location=New Delhi |publisher=Icon Publications |isbn=8188086193 |oclc=858639936}}<br />
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==External links==<br />
{{commons category|Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit}}<br />
* {{Internet Archive film clip|id=gov.archives.arc.95854|description="Longines Chronoscope with Mme. Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit"}}<br />
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{{succession box|title=[[Indian Ambassador to the United States]]|before=[[Asaf Ali]]|after=[[Gaganvihari Lallubhai Mehta]]|years=1949–1952}}<br />
{{succession box|before=[[Lester B. Pearson]]|title=[[President of the United Nations General Assembly]]|years=1953|after=[[Eelco N. van Kleffens]]}}<br />
{{succession box|before= none |title=[[Ambassador of India to the Soviet Union]]|years=1947–1949|after=[[Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan]]}}<br />
{{succession box|title=[[High Commission of India to the United Kingdom]]|before=[[B. G. Kher]]|after=[[M. C. Chagla]]|years=1954–1961}}<br />
{{succession box|title=[[List of governors of Maharashtra|Governor of Maharashtra]]|before=[[P. Subbarayan]]|after=[[P. V. Cherian]]|years=1962–1964}}<br />
{{s-end}}<br />
{{Presidents of the UN General Assembly}}<br />
{{Padma Vibhushan Awards}}<br />
{{Indian civil servants}}<br />
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{{Authority control}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Pandit, Vijaya Lakshmi}}<br />
[[Category:1900 births]]<br />
[[Category:1990 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:1st Lok Sabha members]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian women politicians]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian politicians]]<br />
[[Category:3rd Lok Sabha members]]<br />
[[Category:4th Lok Sabha members]]<br />
[[Category:Ambassadors of India to Ireland]]<br />
[[Category:Ambassadors of India to Mexico]]<br />
[[Category:Ambassadors of India to Spain]]<br />
[[Category:Ambassadors of India to the Soviet Union]]<br />
[[Category:Ambassadors of India to the United States]]<br />
[[Category:Fellows of Somerville College, Oxford]]<br />
[[Category:Governors of Maharashtra]]<br />
[[Category:High Commissioners of India to the United Kingdom]]<br />
[[Category:Indian Hindus]]<br />
[[Category:Indian women diplomats]]<br />
[[Category:Kashmiri people]]<br />
[[Category:Lok Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh]]<br />
[[Category:Nehru–Gandhi family]]<br />
[[Category:People from Allahabad district]]<br />
[[Category:Permanent Representatives of India to the United Nations]]<br />
[[Category:Politicians from Allahabad]]<br />
[[Category:Politicians from Dehradun]]<br />
[[Category:Politicians from Lucknow]]<br />
[[Category:Presidents of the United Nations General Assembly]]<br />
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of British India]]<br />
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in civil service]]<br />
[[Category:Women in Maharashtra politics]]<br />
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[[Category:Women members of the Lok Sabha]]<br />
[[Category:Women state cabinet ministers of India]]<br />
[[Category:Women state governors of India]]<br />
[[Category:Indian women ambassadors]]</div>->Billjones94