Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit

Her Excellency Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
Pandit in 1938
8th President of the United Nations General Assembly
In office 15 September 1953 – 21 September 1954[1]
Preceded by	Lester B. Pearson
Succeeded by	Eelco N. van Kleffens
3rd Governor of Maharashtra
In office 28 November 1962 – 18 October 1964
Chief Minister	Marotrao Kannamwar P. K. Sawant (acting) Vasantrao Naik
Preceded by	P. Subbarayan
Succeeded by	P. V. Cherian
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office 1964–1969
Preceded by	Jawaharlal Nehru
Succeeded by	Janeshwar Mishra
Constituency	Phulpur
Personal details
Born	Swarup Nehru (1900-08-18)18 August 1900 Allahabad, North West Provinces, British India (present day Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India)
Died	1 December 1990(1990-12-01) (aged 90) Dehradun, Uttar Pradesh, India (present-day Uttarakhand)
Political party	Indian National Congress
Spouse	Ranjit Sitaram Pandit ​ ​ (m. 1921; died 1944)​
Children	3, including Nayantara Sahgal
Parent(s)	Pandit Motilal Nehru Swarup Rani Nehru
Relatives	See Nehru–Gandhi family
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Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit (née Swarup Nehru;^[2] 18 August 1900 – 1 December 1990) was an Indian freedom fighter, diplomat and politician. She served as the 8th President of the United Nations General Assembly from 1953 to 1954, the first woman appointed to this post. She was also the 3rd Governor of Maharashtra from 1962 to 1964. Noted for her participation in the Indian independence movement, she was jailed several times during the movement.

Hailing from the prominent Nehru-Gandhi political family, her brother Jawaharlal Nehru was the first Prime Minister of independent India, her niece Indira Gandhi was the first female Prime Minister of India and her grand-nephew Rajiv Gandhi was the sixth and youngest Prime Minister of India. She was sent to London as India's most important diplomat after serving as India's envoy to the Soviet Union, the United States and the United Nations. Her time in London offers insights into the wider context of changes in India–UK relations.^[3]