From a noted Bengali family, Naidu was educated in English at an early age and went on to study at Madras College, King's College, London and Girton College, Cambridge. In 1898, she married Dr. Govindurajulu Naidu, a member of a different caste, which caused somewhat of a scandal in India at the time. Naidu had begun to write poems during her teens and, in 1896, read a number of them to Arthur Symons who was suitably impressed and urged her to publish. In 1905, her first volume of poetry, The Golden Threshold, appeared to critical acclaim. That year she also joined the Indian independence movement following the partitioning of Bengal. Over the next ten years she met and befriended many of the leaders of political movement in India including Gandhi and Nehru. In 1919, she was named the Home Rule League's ambassador to England and in 1924 was a delegate to the Indian National Congress. She played an important role in the Civil Disobedience Movement during the 1940's and was jailed for nearly two years in 1942. After independence she became Governor of Uttar Pradesh, the largest state in India, the first woman in India to hold such a prestigious position. Her other works include Bird of Time (1912), Broken Wing (1917), Feast of Youth (1918) and Sceptered Flute (1928). |
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