Who was the First Woman Governor of India?
By BYJU'S Exam Prep
Updated on: November 9th, 2023
Sarojini Naidu was the first woman governor of India. She was the first woman governor of Uttar Pradesh of free India from 15th August 1947 to 2nd March 1949. She was an active participant in the Indian Freedom Movement. She also took part in the Quit India Movement in 1942. Her daughter Padmaja Naidu was the longest-serving female governor of India for a tenure of a little under 11 years in West Bengal.
First Woman Governor of India
Indian poetess and politician Sarojini Naidu became the first woman governor of a state in independent India. She had also been the first woman President of the Indian National Congress in 1925. She is also known as the Nightingale of India or Bharat Kokila. She was granted admission to Cambridge’s Girton College by the Mahbub Ali Khan-founded Nizam Charitable Trust after graduating from the University of Madras. Later, Sarojini Naidu went on to become the governor of Uttar Pradesh.
Sarojini Chattopadhyay married Govindarajulu Naidu after finishing her studies and assumed the name Sarojini Naidu. The details of Sarojini Naidu’s career and life are mentioned below:
- Sarojini Naidu was born on 13th February 1879 in Hyderabad.
- She belonged to a Brahmin household and was the eldest daughter of Aghorenath Chattopadhyay.
- She studied at the University of Madras and later on attained her higher education at King’s College, London and later at Girton College, Cambridge.
- When Bengal was partitioned in 1905, Sarojini Naidu became involved in India’s independence struggle.
- Sarojini Naidu was a prolific poetess whose poetry themes included children as well as tragedy and patriotism.
- One of her most popular poems is “In the Bazaars of Hyderabad”, which was published in 1912.
- She was also a member of the Women’s Indian Association, which was founded in 1917.
- Later that year, she testified before the Joint Select Committee in London alongside her colleague Annie Besant, president of the Home Rule League, to advocate for universal suffrage in India.
- She was appointed as the first female Governor of the United Provinces, now Uttar Pradesh, in 1947.
- She died due to cardiac arrest on 2nd March 1949 at the Government House in Lucknow.
Summary:
Who was the first Woman Governor of India?
The first woman governor of India was Sarojini Naidu. She was an Indian poetess, politician, and also the first lady president of the Indian National Congress. Some of her important works include The Golden Threshold, The Bird of Time, and The Broken Wing.
Related Questions:
- Who is the First Woman President of the Indian National Congress?
- Who was the First Woman Chief Minister of Delhi?
- Who is the First Woman President of India?
- Who is the First Woman IAS Officer in India?
- Who was the First Governor General of Independent India?
- Who has written the Constitution of India?
