Perin Ben Captain (1888–1958) was an Indian freedom activist, social worker, and the grand daughter of renowned Indian intellectual and leader,

Dadabhai Naoroji Dadabhai Naoroji (4 September 1825 – 30 June 1917) also known as the "Grand Old Man of India" and "Unofficial Ambassador of India", was an Indian political leader, merchant, scholar and writer who served as 2nd, 9th, and 22nd President of t ...

. The

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

honoured her in 1954 with the award of

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

, the fourth highest Indian civilian award for her contributions to the country, placing her among the first group of recipients of the award.

Biography

Perin Ben was born on 12 October 1888 in

Mandvi Mandvi is a Beach town with municipality in the Kutch district in the States and territories of India, Indian state of Gujarat. It was once a major port of the region and summer retreat for Maharao (king) of the Cutch State. The old city was enc ...

, in Kutch district, in the Indian state of

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

, in a

Parsi Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim conq ...

family. Her father, Ardeshir, was a medical doctor and the eldest son of

, and her mother, Virbai Dadina, was a house wife. Born as the eldest of eight children, she lost her father in 1893 when she was only 5 years old and did her early education in Mumbai. Later, she joined University of Paris III: Sorbonne Nouvelle, from where she secured a degree in French. While in Paris, she came into the circle of

Bhikaiji Cama Bhikaiji Rustom CamaBhi''ai''- (with aspirated ''-kh-'') is the name as it appears in the biographies. Another common form is Bhi''ai''- (with unaspirated ''-k-''), as it appears on the postage stamp. The name is also frequently misspelled 'Bhi ...

and started participating in their activities. It is reported that she was involved with the plan to release

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (), Marathi pronunciation: �inaːjək saːʋəɾkəɾ also commonly known as Veer Savarkar (28 May 1883 – 26 February 1966), was an Indian politician, activist, and writer. Savarkar developed the Hindu nationalis ...

after his arrest in London. During this time, she attended the Egyptian National Congress at Brussels in 1910 along with Savarkar and Bhikaiji Cama. She was also involved with the Polish émigré organisations based in Paris, which were revolting against the Czarist rule in Russia. After returning to India in 1911, Perin had an opportunity to meet

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

and was influenced by his ideals. By 1919, she started working with him, and in 1920, she took to

Swadeshi movement The Swadeshi movement was a self-sufficiency movement that was part of the Indian independence movement and contributed to the development of Indian nationalism. Before the BML Government's decision for the partition of Bengal was made public in ...

and started wearing Khadi. In 1921, she assisted in establishing the Rashtriya Stree Sabha, a women's movement based on

gandhian The followers of Mahatma Gandhi, the greatest figure of the Indian independence movement, are called Gandhians. Gandhi's legacy includes a wide range of ideas ranging from his dream of ideal India (or ''Rama Rajya)'', economics, environmentalism, ...

ideals. Perin married Dhunjisha S. Captain, a lawyer, in 1925, but the couple had no children. She continued her social activism after marriage and served on a number of councils of the Indian National Congress. She was the first woman president of Bombay Provincial Congress Committee, when she got elected to the post in 1930. She participated in the

Civil disobedience movement The Salt March, also known as the Salt Satyagraha, Dandi March and the Dandi Satyagraha, was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in colonial India led by Mahatma Gandhi. The twenty-four day march lasted from 12 March to 6 April 1930 as a di ...

initiated by Mahatma Gandhi and was incarcerated, the first of the several imprisonments she endured during the

Indian freedom movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged from Bengal. ...

. When Gandhi Seva Sena was reconstituted in the 1930s, she was made its honorary General Secretary, a post she held till her death in 1958. When the

introduced the Padma civilian award system in 1954, Perin Captain was included in the first list of awardees for

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Captain, Perin Recipients of the Padma Shri in public affairs 1888 births 1958 deaths University of Paris alumni University of Mumbai alumni People from Kutch district Parsi people Indian independence activists from Gujarat Women in Gujarat politics Indian rebels Gujarat politicians Indian National Congress politicians from Gujarat Indian people of World War II Indian women in World War II 19th-century Indian people 20th-century Indian women politicians 20th-century Indian politicians Women Indian independence activists Social workers from Gujarat Indian expatriates in France