Savitribai Phule: A Crusader Of Gender Justice

Savitribai Phule was a poet, reformer and educationist. Born on January 3, 1831 in Naigaon in a lowly Mali family in Maharashtra she was married off at the tender age of 10.

Critical of the prevailing Hindu religion and custom she along with her husband, Jyotirao Phule, established several schools for the uplift of the untouchables and women.

Savitribai Phule started India’s first school for girls at Pune's Bhide Wada in 1848.

To make the depressed classes conscious of their rights, she and her husband founded the Satya Sodhak Samaj in 1873.

Savitribai passed away on March 10, 1897.

Savitribai Phule was born in Maharashtra’s Satara district to Lakshmi and Khandoji Nevase Patil on January 3, 1831.

Her important works include:

• Kavya Phule (“Flowers of Poems”) (published in 1854)

• Bavan Kashi Subodh Ratnakar (published in1892)

• Matushri Savitribai Phulenchi Bhashane Va Gaani

• Jotibanchi Bhashane Vol. 1 to 4 – [Collection of Mahatma Phule’s speeches, edited by Savitribai Phule],

In Savitribai’s honour, the Pune University was renamed the Savitribai Phule Pune University in 2015.

Key Takeaways

Savitribai Phule is hailed as the first female teacher in India.
Savitribai Phule opposed child marriage, dowry, Sati and child infanticide. She stood for women’s education and widow remarriage.
She has been popularly called the ‘Crusader of Gender Justice.’
Along with her husband Jyotirao Phule, Savitribai established two educational trusts in the 1850s. One was called the Native Female School of Pune, and the other was The Society for Promoting the Education of Mahars, Mangs and Etceteras.

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