November 19, 1917 - 1984
Indira Gandhi, née Nehru, became the first female prime minister of
India (1966-1977; 1980-1984). Born to Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime
minister of India, Indira joined the National Congress party in 1938
and became active in India's independence movement. She was arrested
by the British on charges of subversion and spent 13 months in prison.
In 1955 she was
elected to the executive body of the Congress party. In 1959 she became
president of the party for one year. In 1962, during the Chinese-Indian
border war, she coordinated civil defense activities. Gandhi became
minister of information and broadcasting in Lal Bahadur Shastri's government.
As minister she extended broadcasting time, liberalized censorship policies,
and approved a television education project in family planning.
She led her party
to a landslide victory in the national elections of 1971 and achieved
considerable reknown for her work as a leader of developing countries.
She could not, however, stop the violence in india. After she had moved
vigorously to suppress Sikh insurgents, she was shot to death by Sikh
members of her security guard.
- First female
prime minister of India (1966-1977; 1980-1984)
- President of
the Indian Congress Party (1959-1960)
- Minister of
Information and Broadcasting