Sarojini Naidu born - February 13, 1879

On this day in 1879, Indian poet and activist Sarojini Naidu was born.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This Day in History Class is a production of I
Heart Radio. Hey y'all, I'm Eves. Welcome to This Day
in History Class, a show where we one day ship
nuggets of history straight to your brain through your ear hole.
Today is February. The day was February eighteen seventy nine

(00:28):
Indian poet and activists Sarah Ginie Naidoo was born. Nido
was also the first Indian woman to be President of
the Indian National Congress. Her poetry earned her the nickname
the Nightingale of India. Naidoo was born in Hyderabad, India.
Her mother was a poet and her father was a
scientist and philosopher. She was the oldest of eight children,

(00:52):
and some of her siblings were activists and poets. Ni
Do spoke several languages and she began writing poetry at
an early age. She began attending Madras University at age twelve.
Several years later, she moved to England to study at
King's College and Girton College. There, she became involved in
the campaign for women's suffrage. When she returned to India

(01:16):
in eighteen ninety eight, she married a non Brahmin doctor,
though he was from a different cast The families approved
of the marriage. The couple eventually had several children together.
Her first collection of poems, The Golden Threshold, was published
in nineteen o five. That same year, the British partitioned Bengal,

(01:36):
which separated the majority Muslim Eastern areas from the largely
Hindu western areas. Having gained an interest in politics through
her experiences in England, Naidu turned her attention to the
Indian National Congress and Gandhi's Non Cooperation Movement. The Indian
National Congress is a political party that formed in eighteen

(01:57):
eighty five and was at the four front of the
Indian independence movement. The Non Cooperation Movement was a non
violent effort to get the British government to grant self
governance to India. Naido joined the Indian National Congress in
nineteen o five. She traveled around India speaking about women's education,

(02:18):
helping impoverished people in nationalism. She met with social and
political leaders and artists like Gopol Christiana Goklikur and Sarahah Devidrani.
In nineteen seventeen, Naidoo helped found the Women's Indian Association
along with Annie Bessent, Margaret cousins and others. In the

(02:40):
following years, she continued to argue for women's suffrage and
speak out against issues like child marriage and sati when
Hindu widows would earn themselves to death on their deceased
husband's funeral. Pires Naido also joined Gandhi's Satya Graha movement,
one of non violent resistance. In nine she became the

(03:02):
first Indian woman to lead the Indian National Congress. Naidia
was jailed a few times for her anti British activities,
including for manufacturing salt and for her involvement in the
Quit India movement, which advocated for an end to British
rule in India. India gained independence from Britain in nineteen
forty seven. That year, she became the first governor of

(03:26):
Uttar Pradesh, then called the United Provinces. Throughout her life,
Nadou continued to write poetry and incorporated it into her speeches.
Some of her other published poetry collections include The Bird
of Time and The Broken Wing. Some of her poems
were published posthumously. Her poetry is known for being lyrical,

(03:48):
with rich imagery, conveying messages of love, belonging, and separation.
She died in nineteen forty nine in Uttar Pradesh. I'm
Eve Jeff Coote and hopefully you know a little more
about history today than you did yesterday. If you have
any insight on an accident or pronunciation spoken in the
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(04:36):
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