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Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit () was an Indian diplomat, politician, and a sister of India's first prime-minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. She was active in the Indian freedom movement and held high national and international positions.

Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit was born in Allahabad in what was then the United Provinces (later, Uttar Pradesh) on August 18, , and was given the name Swarup Kumari ("Beautiful Princess") Nehru.

She was the eldest daughter of a distinguished Brahmin lawyer, Motilal Nehru, and eleven years younger than her brother, Jawaharlal.

Biography of vijay laxmi pandit image Even after her retirement from active politics, Pandit sustained a deep interest in Indian political developments. Vigoda, David The Pandit's had three daughters, including the novelist Nayantara Pandit Sehgal. Vijaya Lakshmi's born Swarup [ 2 ] father, Motilal Nehru — , a wealthy barrister who belonged to the Kashmiri Pandit community, [ 4 ] served twice as President of the Indian National Congress during the Independence Struggle.

Accustomed to luxury and educated at home and in Switzerland, she was greatly influenced by Mohandas Ghandi and became identified with the struggle for independence. She was imprisoned by the British on three different occasions, in , , and

In May she married Ranjit Sitaram Pandit, a foreign-educated barrister from Kathiawar.

At that time she changed her name to Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit. The Pandit's had three daughters, including the novelist Nayantara (Pandit) Sehgal. Her husband died on January 14,

In Pandit's long career in politics officially began with her election to the Allahabad Municipal Board.

Biography of vijay laxmi pandit singh Abraham Bureaucrat B. Pandit was elected to India's Constituent Assembly in More From encyclopedia. From to , she was a member of Parliament, and from to , she led India's delegation to the United Nations , where she became president of the General Assembly.

In she was elected to the Assembly of the United Provinces, and in became minister of local self-government and public health—the first Indian woman ever to become a cabinet minister. Like all Congress party officeholders, she resigned in to protest against the British government's declaration that India was a participant in World War II. Along with other Congress leaders, she was imprisoned after the Congress' "Quit India" Resolution of August

Forced to reorient her life after her husband's death, Pandit traveled in the United States from late to early , mainly on a lecture tour.

Returning to India in January , she resumed her portfolio as minister of local self-government and public health in the United Provinces. In the fall of she undertook her first official diplomatic mission as leader of the Indian delegation to the United Nations General Assembly. She also led India's delegations to the General Assembly in , , , , and

Pandit was elected to India's Constituent Assembly in Shortly after India's independence in , she joined the foreign service and was appointed India's first ambassador to the Soviet Union.

In early she became ambassador to the United States.

In November she returned to India to contest successfully for a seat in the Lok Sabha (India's parliament) in the first general elections.

Biography of vijay laxmi pandit Retrieved January 08, from Encyclopedia. Vijay Laxmi Pandit mother name was Swarooprani Thasu. Education: No Formal Education. The Pittsburgh Press.

In September she was given the honor of being the first woman and the first Asian to be elected president of the U.N. General Assembly.

For nearly seven years, beginning in December , Pandit served as Indian high commissioner (ambassador) to the United Kingdom, including a tense period in British-Indian relations at the time of the Suez and Hungarian crisis' in From March until August she served as governor of the state of Maharashtra.

Jawaharlal Nehru's death on May 27, came as a great shock to her.

In November, she was elected to the Lok Sabha in a by-election in the Philpur constituency of Uttar Pradesh, which her brother had represented for 17 years. She was re-elected in the fourth general elections in , but resigned the following year for "personal reasons."

Furious at Indira Ghandi's (whose maiden name was Nehru) state-of-emergency suspension of democratic processes from to , she campaigned against her niece.

Her efforts resulted in an electoral defeat for Ghandi.

Pandit had not been politically active for several years when she died in Dehru Dun, India on December 1, On the occasion of her death, President Ramaswami Venkataraman described Pandit as a "luminous strand in the tapestry of India's freedom struggle.

Sarojini naidu Vihar, Bela. Vijay Laxmi Pandit died on 01 December Archived from the original on 26 December She was the second of her parents' third child.

Distinctive in her elegance, courage, and dedication, Mrs. Pandit was an asset to the national movement."

Further Reading

Pandit's own writings include So I Became a Minister (); Prison Days (); a touching essay, "The Family Bond, " in Rafiq Zakaria, ed., A Study of Nehru (); many interviews and articles, and innumerable published speeches.

Her daughter, Nayantara (Pandit) Sahgal, presented revealing portraits in Prison and Chocolate Cake () and From Fear Set Free (). There is no good biography of Pandit, but three books by professed admirers are interesting: Anne Guthrie Madame Ambassador: The Life of Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit (); Vera Brittain Envoy Extraordinary (); and Robert Hardy Andrews A Lamp for India: The Story of Madame Pandit ().

She is often referred to in books on the Nehrus and in biographies of her brother, Jawaharlal Nehru.

Obituaries for Pandit appear in the Chicago Tribune (December 2, ) and the Washington Post (December 2, ). A brief biography of Pandit appears on-line at the A&E Network Biography site located at □