Sarojini Naidu
Sarojini Naidu in Bombay (now Mumbai), 1946 Sarojini Naidu in Bombay (now Mumbai), 1946
Born	Sarojini Chattopadhyaya(সরোজিনী চট্টোপাধ্যায়) (1879-02-13)13 February 1879 Hyderabad, Hyderabad State, India
Died	2 March 1949(1949-03-02) (aged 70) Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
Occupation	Poet, writer, social activist.
Nationality	Indian
Alma mater	King's College London Girton College, Cambridge
Spouse	Dr. Muthyala Govindarajulu
Children	Jayasurya Naidu, Padmaja Naidu, Randheer Naidu, Aditya Nilawar Naidu and Leelamani Naidu
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Sarojini Naidu, (born as Sarojini Chattopadhyaya/ সরোজিনী চট্টোপাধ্যায় ) also known by the sobriquet as The Nightingale of India,^[1] was a child prodigy, Indian independence activist and poet. Naidu was one of the formers of the Indian Constitution. She was the first Indian woman to become the President of the Indian National Congress,^[2] and, as the Governor of the United Provinces from 1947 to 1949, the first woman to become the governor of an Indian state. Her birthday is celebrated as Women's Day all over India.

Sarojini Naidu was born in Hyderabad in a Bengali Hindu Kulin Brahmin family to Aghore Nath Chattopadhyay and Barada Sundari Debi on 13 February 1879. Her father was a carpenter of Science from Edinburgh University, settled in Hyderabad State, where he founded and administered the Hyderabad College, which later became the Nizam's College in Hyderabad. Her mother was a poetess and used to write poetry in Bengali.

Sarojini Naidu was the eldest among the eight siblings. Her brother Birendranath was a revolutionary and her other brother, Harindranath was a poet, dramatist, and actor.^[3]

Sarojini Naidu passed her Matriculation examination from the University of Madras, but she took four years' break from her studies. In 1895, she travelled to England to study first at King's College London and later at Girton College, Cambridge.

Sarojini Naidu joined the Indian national movement in the wake of partition of Bengal in 1905. She came into contact with Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Rabindranath Tagore, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Annie Besant, C. P. Ramaswami Iyer, Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.^[4]

During 1915-1918, she travelled to different regions in India delivering lectures on social welfare, women's empowerment and nationalism. She also helped to establish the Women's Indian Association (WIA) in 1917.^[5] She was sent to London along with Annie Besant, President of WIA, to present the case for the women's vote to the Joint Select Committee.

In 1925, Naidu presided over the annual session of Indian National Congress at Cawnpore.

In 1929, she presided over East African Indian Congress in South Africa. She was awarded the Kaisar-i-Hind Medal by the British government for her work during the plague epidemic in India.^[6]

In 1931, she participated in the Round table conference with Gandhi and Madan Mohan Malaviya.^[7]

She played a leading role during the Civil Disobedience Movement and was jailed along with Gandhi and other leaders. In 1942, she was arrested during the "Quit India" movement.

Naidu began writing at the age of 13. Her Persian play, Maher Muneer, impressed the Nawab of Hyderabad.

In 1905, her first collection of poems, named "The Golden Threshold" was published.^[8] Her poems were admired by many prominent Indian politicians like Gopal Krishna Gokhale.

Her collection of poems entitled "The Feather of The Dawn" was edited and published posthumously in 1961 by her daughter Padamaja.^[9]

The Golden Threshold is the name of one of the central building on the University of Hyderabad's campus. The building was the residence of Naidu's father Dr. Aghornath Chattopadhyay, the first Principal of Hyderabad College. It was named after Naidu's collection of poetry. Golden Threshold now houses Theatre Outreach Unit an initiative of University of Hyderabad. ^{[citation needed]}

During the Chattopadhyay family's residence, it was the center of many reformist ideas in Hyderabad, in areas ranging from marriage, education, women’s empowerment, literature and nationalism.

Harindranath Chattopadhyay said about this house, where anyone and any ideas were welcome for discussion, “a museum of wisdom and culture,a zoo crowded with a medley of strange types – some even verging on the mystique”.^{[citation needed]}

Sarojini met Dr. Govindarajulu Naidu, a non-Brahmin and a doctor by profession, and fell in love with him. At the age of 19, after finishing her studies, married to him. At this time, inter-caste marriages were not allowed, but her father approved of the marriage and her marriage was a very happy one.^[3]

The couple had five children. Jayasurya, Padmaja, Randheer, Nilawar and Leelamani. Her daughter Padmaja followed in to her footprints and became the Governor of West Bengal, as well as a poet.^[9]

Naidu died of a heart attack while working in her office in Lucknow on March 2, 1949.^[9]

Each year links to its corresponding "year in poetry" article:

• 1905: The Golden Threshold, published in the United Kingdom^[10] (text available online)
• 1912: The Bird of Time: Songs of Life, Death & the Spring, published in London^[11]
• 1917: The Broken Wing: Songs of Love, Death and the Spring, including "The Gift of India" (first read in public in 1915)^[11][12]
• 1916: Muhammad Jinnah: An Ambassador of Unity^[13]
• 1943: The Sceptred Flute: Songs of India, Allahabad: Kitabistan, posthumously published^[11]
• 1961: The Feather of the Dawn, posthumously published, edited by her daughter, Padmaja Naidu^[14]
• 1971:The Indian Weavers^[15]

• Damayante to Nala in the Hour of Exile
• Ecstasy
• Indian Dancers
• The Indian
• Indian Love-Song
• Indian Weavers
• In Salutation to the Eternal Peace
• In the Forest
• In the Bazaars of Hyderabad( Refer to English textbook of 9th std ICSE board)
• Leili
• Nightfall in the City of Hyderabad
• Palanquin Bearers
• The Pardah Nashin
• Past and Future
• The Queen's Rival
• The Royal Tombs of Golconda
• The Snake-Charmer
• Song of a Dream
• Song of Radha,the milkmaid
• The Soul's Prayer
• Suttee
• To a Buddha Seated on a Lotus
• To the God of Pain
• Wandering Singers
• Street Cries
• Alabaster
• Autumn Song
• Bangle Sellers
• The Coromandel Fishers
• To youth
• The Festival of Memory

She is commemorated through the naming of several institutions including the Sarojini Naidu College for Women, Sarojini Naidu Medical College, Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital and Sarojini Naidu School of Arts & Communication, University of Hyderabad

• The poetry of Sarojini Naidu: A fusion of English language and Indian culture by Meeta Ajay Khanna, ISSN 2249-6912, Volume 3, Issue 3, August 2013
• Works by Sarojini Naidu at Project Gutenberg
• Biography and Poems of Sarojini Naidu
• Letter written by Sarojini Naidu
• Biography of Sarojini Naidu
• First Biography of Muhammad Ali Jinnah by Sarojini Naidu (1917)
• Sarojini Naidu: An introduction to her life, work and poetry By Vishwanath S. Naravane
• Sarojini Naidu materials at the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA)

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