38 Facts About Sarojini Naidu

Sarojini Naidu played an important role in the Indian independence movement against the British Raj.

Sarojini Naidu was the first Indian woman to be president of the Indian National Congress and appointed governor of a state.

Sarojini Naidu became a part of the national movement and became a follower of Mahatma Gandhi and his idea of swaraj.

Sarojini Naidu was appointed Congress president in 1925 and, when India achieved its independence, became Governor of the United Provinces in 1947.

Sarojini Naidu was born in Hyderabad on 13 February 1879 to Aghorenath Chattopadhyay.

Sarojini Naidu's father was from Brahmangaon, Bikrampur, Dhaka, Bengal.

Sarojini Naidu's father was a Bengali Hindu and the principal of Nizam College.

Sarojini Naidu held a doctorate of Science from Edinburgh University.

Sarojini Naidu's brother Virendranath Chattopadhyay was a revolutionary, and another brother Harindranath was a poet, a dramatist, and an actor.

Sarojini Naidu passed her matriculation examination to qualify for university study, earning the highest rank, in 1891, when she was twelve.

Sarojini Naidu addressed the Indian National Congress and the Indian Social Conference in Calcutta in 1906.

Sarojini Naidu met Muthulakshmi Reddy in 1909, and in 1914 she met Mahatma Gandhi, whom she credited with inspiring a new commitment to political action.

Sarojini Naidu was the first woman President of the Indian National Congress and first Indian woman to preside over the INC conference.

Later that year, Sarojini Naidu accompanied her colleague Annie Besant, who was the president of Home Rule League and Women's Indian Association, to advocate universal suffrage in front of the Joint Select Committee in London, United Kingdom.

In 1902, Sarojini Naidu entered the world of politics after being urged by Gopal Krishna Gokhale, an important leader of the nationalist movement.

In 1906, Sarojini Naidu spoke to the Social Council of Calcutta in order to advocate for the education of Indian women.

Sarojini Naidu claimed that the true "nation-builders" were women, not men, and that without women's active cooperation, the nationalist movement would be in vain.

Sarojini Naidu's speech argued that Indian nationalism depended on women's rights, and that the liberation of India could not be separated from the liberation of women.

In 1917, Sarojini Naidu sponsored the establishment of the Women's Indian Association, which finally provided a platform for women to discuss their complaints and demand their rights.

That same year, Sarojini Naidu served as a spokesperson for a delegation of women that met with Edwin Montagu, the Secretary of State for India, and Lord Chelmsford, the Viceroy of India, in order to discuss reforms.

In 1918, Sarojini Naidu moved a resolution on women's franchise to the Eighteenth Session of the Bombay Provincial Conference and to the special session of Congress held in Bombay.

Sarojini Naidu argued that women had always played an important role in political life in India and that rather than going against tradition, women's franchise would simply be giving back what was theirs all along.

Sarojini Naidu proposed that women would lay the foundation of nationalism, making women's franchise a necessity for the nation.

Sarojini Naidu presented a memorandum to the committee and provided evidence that the women of India were ready for the right to vote.

Sarojini Naidu became the first Indian female president of the Indian National Congress in 1925, demonstrating how influential she was as a political voice.

In 1930, Sarojini Naidu wrote a pamphlet that would be handed out to women with the goal of bringing them into the political struggle.

Sarojini Naidu formed close ties with Gandhi, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Rabindranath Tagore and Sarala Devi Chaudhurani.

Sarojini Naidu went to London in 1919 as a part of the All India Home Rule League as a part of her continued efforts to advocate for independence from British rule.

In 1924, Sarojini Naidu represented the Indian National Congress at the East African Indian National Congress.

In 1925, Sarojini Naidu was the first Indian female president of the Indian National Congress.

In 1927, Sarojini Naidu was a founding member of the All India Women's Conference.

Sarojini Naidu presided over East African and Indian Congress' 1929 session in South Africa.

Sarojini Naidu remained in office until her death in March 1949.

Sarojini Naidu's poetry was written in English and usually took the form of lyric poetry in the tradition of British Romanticism, which she was sometimes challenged to reconcile with her Indian nationalist politics.

Sarojini Naidu was known for her vivid use of rich sensory images in her writing, and for her lush depictions of India.

Sarojini Naidu was well-regarded as a poet, considered the "Indian Yeats".

Sarojini Naidu subsequently died, and her last rites were performed at the Gomati River.

Sarojini Naidu is memorialized in the Golden Threshold, an off-campus annex of University of Hyderabad named for her first collection of poetry.