Savitribai Phule (1831 – 1897)

In Context :

The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has paid tributes to Savitribai Phule on her birth anniversary.

Savitribai Phule (1831 – 1897)

• Indian social reformer.
• Educationalist.
• First Female Teacher of India
• Mother of Indian Feminism.
• Poet from Maharashtra.

About:

• Along with her husband, Jyotirao Phule, she played a crucial role in improving women's rights in India. She is considered the mother of Indian feminism. She established the Mahila Seva Mandal to boost awareness for issues concerning women's rights.
• Savitribai was also an anti-infanticide activist. She opened a women's shelter called the house for the Prevention of Infanticide, where Brahmin widows could safely deliver their children and leave them there to be adopted if they so desired.
• She is considered the primary female teacher of India. Phule and her husband founded the primary Indian girls' school in Pune, at Bhide wada in 1848.
• She also worked to abolish the discrimination and unfair treatment of people based on caste.
• She published Kavya Phule in 1854 and Bavan Kashi Subodh Ratnakar in 1892, and also a poem entitled "Go, Get Education" during which she encouraged those that are oppressed to free themselves by obtaining an education.

Source : PIB