Dr. Vina Mazumdar (28 March 1927 – 30 May 2013) was an Indian academic, left-wing activist and feminist. A pioneer in

women's studies Women's studies is an academic field that draws on feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining social and cultural constructs of gender; systems of privilege and oppress ...

in India, she was a leading figure of the Indian women's movement. She was amongst the first women academics to combine activism with scholarly research in women's studies. She was secretary of the first Committee on the Status of Women in India that brought out the first report on the condition of women in the country, '' Towards Equality'' (1974).Interview with Vina Mazumdar, Global Feminisms Project

Deep Blue Deep Blue may refer to: Film * ''Deep Blues: A Musical Pilgrimage to the Crossroads'', a 1992 documentary film about Mississippi Delta blues music * Deep Blue (2001 film), ''Deep Blue'' (2001 film), a film by Dwight H. Little * Deep Blue (2003 ...

, Michigan University She was the founding Director of the

Centre for Women's Development Studies The Centre for Women's Development Studies (CWDS) was founded in 1980 by a group of scholars and activists committed to expanding and transforming accepted notions of gender-related research and action across the social sciences. The establishme ...

(CWDS), an autonomous organisation established in 1980, under the

Indian Council of Social Science Research The Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) is the national body overseeing research in the social sciences in India. It was established in New Delhi in 1969. Council The Council is currently chaired by Bhushan Patwardhan. Current ...

(ICSSR). She was a National Research Professor at the Centre for Women's Development Studies, Delhi.

Early life and education

Vina Mazumdar was born in a middle-class

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

household in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

, the youngest of five children, three boys and two girls. Her father, Prakash Majumdar, was an engineer. Her uncle was the noted historian

R.C. Majumdar Ramesh Chandra Majumdar (known as R. C. Majumdar; 4 December 1888 – 11 February 1980) was a historian and professor of History of India, Indian history. Majumdar is a noted historian of modern India. He was a former Sheriff of Kolkata. Early ...

(1888–1980). She did her schooling from

St. John's Diocesan Girls' Higher Secondary School St. John's Diocesan Girls' H.S. School (informally known as Diocesan or Dio) is a girls-only day school located in Kolkata (Calcutta), West Bengal, India. It was established in 1876 by British missionary Angelina Margaret Hoare from Kent, Engla ...

, then studied at Women's College,

Banaras Hindu University Banaras Hindu University (BHU) IAST: kāśī hindū viśvavidyālaya IPA: /kaːʃiː hɪnd̪uː ʋɪʃwəʋid̪jaːləj/), is a collegiate, central, and research university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and founded in 1916 ...

, and subsequently at

Asutosh College Asutosh College (Bengali: আশুতোষ কলেজ) is a college affiliated to the University of Calcutta, situated in Southern Kolkata, close to the Jatin Das Park Metro Station, gate No. 2. It was established in 1916 as the South Subu ...

, the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate State university (India), state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered ...

, where she became the secretary of the Ashutosh College Girls Students Union. While at the college, she organised a meeting in the support of Rama Rao Committee which recommended expansion of the inheritance rights for daughters through crucial

Hindu Law Hindu law, as a historical term, refers to the code of laws applied to Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs in British India. Hindu law, in modern scholarship, also refers to the legal theory, jurisprudence and philosophical reflections on the nat ...

Reform. In 1947, just after independence, she went to

St Hugh's College, Oxford St Hugh's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. It is located on a site on St Margaret's Road, to the north of the city centre. It was founded in 1886 by Elizabeth Wordsworth as a women's college, and accepte ...

, where she completed her graduation in 1951. She returned to

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

in 1960 and received her

D.Phil. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

there in 1962.

Career

She started her career as a lecturer of Political Science in

Patna University Patna University is a public state university in Patna, Bihar, India. It was established on 1 October 1917 during the British Raj. It is the first university in Bihar and the seventh oldest university in the Indian subcontinent in the modern er ...

in 1951, soon becoming the first Secretary of the Patna University Teachers' Association. Later, she taught at

Berhampur University Berhampur University is a Public teaching-cum-affiliating university in Brahmapur, Odisha, India inaugurated by former Governor of Odisha, Dr. A.N. Khosla. History Berhampur University was established on 2 January 1967 as an affiliating univ ...

, where she was appointed upon the recommendation of Professor

Bidhu Bhusan Das Bidhu Bhusan Das, also spelled Bidhubhusan Das (11 April 1922 – 2 June 1999), was a public intellectual, educator, professor, senior government official, and university president/Vice Chancellor from India. Background and education Bidhubh ...

, her friend from

, who was Director of Public Instruction, Odisha, at the time. Subsequently, she joined the University Grants Commission Secretariat, New Delhi as an Education Officer and became a Fellow of the

Indian Institute of Advanced Studies The Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS) is a research institute located in Shimla, India. It was set up by the Ministry of Education, Government of India in 1964 and started functioning from 20 October 1965. History and establishment The ...

Shimla Shimla (; ; also known as Simla, List of renamed Indian cities and states#Himachal Pradesh, the official name until 1972) is the capital and the largest city of the States and union territories of India, northern Indian state of Himachal Prade ...

, for the research project, 'University Education and Social Change in India' (April 1970 – Dec. 1970). She was Member Secretary for the Committee on the Status of Women in India (1971–74). The Committee, appointed by the Government of India in 1971, was reconstituted in 1973 with her, a late entrant, as Member Secretary. The report of the Committee, ''Towards Equality'', highlighted the rise in poverty amongst women in the transition from agrarian to industrial society, as also the decline of sex ratio in India. Eventually, the report became a turning point both for Women's Studies and the women's movement in India. Later Mazumdar became Director, Programme of Women's Studies,

from 1975 to 80. Mazumdar helped organise a meeting to support the recommendations of the Rama Rao Committee on Hindu Law Reform (to expand the inheritance rights of daughters. In 1980, she co-founded the Centre for Women's Development Studies (CWDS), New Delhi and remained its founder-Director from 1980 till her retirement in 1991. CWDS initiated the concept of "action-research" as it organised landless peasant women in

Bankura district Bankura district (Pron: bãkuɽa) is an administrative unit in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is part of Medinipur division—one of the five administrative divisions of West Bengal. Bankura district is surrounded by Purba Bardhaman distri ...

of West Bengal. It soon became an influential institution which impacted the course of women's studies in India. Through her career, Mazumdar straddled both the scholarship and activism side of women's studies, which she referred as "women's studies movement". She was also a founding-member of the Indian Association of Women's Studies (IAWS, founded 1982). Thereafter she was Senior Fellow at CWDS and JP Naik National Fellow,

ICSSR The Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) is the national body overseeing research in the social sciences in India. It was established in New Delhi in 1969. Council The Council is currently chaired by Bhushan Patwardhan. Current ...

for two years. From 1996 to 2005 she was the Chairperson, Centre for Women's Development Studies, New Delhi. She published her memoir
''Memories of a Rolling Stone''
in 2010. [Reviews

Frontline, Volume 27 – Issue 15, 17–30 July 2010
Pamela Philipose: Vina Mazumdar's Rolling Story
30 October 2010
Vina Mazumdar, the fighter
Times of India, 5 June 2010] Vina 1

Personal life

She married musician Shankar Mazumdar in 1952, who she met while working in Patna. Upon her marriage, she changed the spelling of surname from Majumdar (her maiden name) to Mazumdar (her marital name). The couple had four children - three daughters and a son. One of her daughters was the first wife of Sitaram Yechuri, leader of

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)/CPIM/CPM) is a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist communist List of political parties in India, political party in India. It is the largest communist party of India in term ...

. Dr. Mazumdar died at a hospital in Delhi on May 30, 2013, after a brief illness at the age of 86, and is survived by her children.

Bibliography

* ''Education & social change: three studies on nineteenth century India''. Indian Institute of Advanced Study, 1972. * ''Role of rural women in development''. University of Sussex. Institute of Development Studies. Allied Publishers, 1978. * ''Symbols of power: studies on the political status of women in India''. Allied, 1979. * ''Women and rural transformation: two studies'' with Rekha Mehra,

Kunjulekshmi Saradamoni Kunjulekshmi Saradamoni (1928 – 2021) was an Indian historian, economist and a specialist in Dalit and gender studies, and a president of the National Federation of Indian Women. She is best known for her studies of chattel enslavement of the ...

. ICSSR. Centre for Women's Development Studies. Pub. Concept, 1983. * ''Emergence of the Women's Question in India and the Role of Women's Studies''. Centre for Women's Development Studies, 1985. * ''Khadi and Village Industries Commission''. Centre for Women's Development Studies. 1988. * ''Peasant Women Organise for Empowerment: The Bankura Experiment''. Centre for Women's Development Studies. 1989. * ''Women workers in India: studies in employment and status'', with Leela Kasturi, Sulabha Brahme, Renana Jhabvala. ICSSR. Chanakya Publications, 1990. . * ''Legislative Measures and Policy Directions for Improving the Lot of Farm Women'', with Kumud Sarma,

Lotika Sarkar Lotika Sarkar (4 January 1923 – 23 February 2013) was a noted Indian feminist, social worker, educator and lawyer, who was a pioneer in the field of women's studies and women's rights in India. She was a founding member of Centre for Women's ...

Indian Council of Agricultural Research The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is an autonomous body responsible for co-ordinating agricultural education and research in India. It reports to the Department of Agricultural Research and Education, Ministry of Agriculture. Th ...

. * ''Women and Indian nationalism'', with Leela Kasturi. Vikas Pub. House, 1994. . * ''Changing Terms of Political Discourse: Women's Movement in India, 1970s–1990s'', with Indu Agnihotri.

Economic and Political Weekly The ''Economic and Political Weekly'' (''EPW'') is a weekly peer-reviewed academic journal covering all social sciences, and is published by the Sameeksha Trust. In January 2018, academic Gopal Guru was named the new Editor of the journal. Guru wil ...

, Vol. XXX No. 29, 4 March 1995 * ''Political Ideology of the Women's Movement's Engagement with Law''. Centre for Women's Development Studies, 2000. * ''Face to face with rural women: CWDS' search for new knowledge and an interventionist role''. Centre for Women's Development Studies, 2002. * ''The Mind and the Medium. Explorations in the Evolution of British Imperial Policy in India''. Three Essays Collective. 2010. * ''Memories of a Rolling Stone''. Zubaan Books. 2010. .

References

Additional references

* ''A Pathmaker: tributes to Vina Mazumdar''. Rainbow Publishers, 2002. .
Vina Mazumdar Bibliography

, Michigan University *

External links

Vina Mazumdar, Documentary Sparrow, India
Duration: 92.07 min; Director: Vishnu Mathur; Genre: Documentary; Produced In: 2003. Sound and Picture Archive for Research on Women (SPARROW)
Unlimited Girls – Interview with Veena Mazumdar, Part 1
Location: New Delhi; Duration: 68 min Director: Paromita Vohra (2002)
Unlimited Girls – Interview with Veena Mazumdar, Part 2
Location: New Delhi; Duration: 42 min Director: Paromita Vohra (2002) {{DEFAULTSORT:Mazumdar, Vina 1927 births 2013 deaths Alumni of St Hugh's College, Oxford Asutosh College alumni Banaras Hindu University alumni Founders of learned societies Indian women sociologists Indian feminists Scholars from Kolkata Indian sociologists Indian women's rights activists Indian institute directors Scientists from Kolkata Academic staff of Patna University University of Calcutta alumni Women's studies academics Indian women philanthropists Indian philanthropists Indian women activists 20th-century Indian educators 20th-century Indian women scientists 20th-century Indian social scientists 21st-century Indian women scientists 21st-century Indian social scientists Indian women political writers 21st-century Indian women writers 21st-century Indian non-fiction writers 20th-century Indian women writers 20th-century Indian non-fiction writers Indian political writers Writers from Kolkata Women writers from West Bengal Activists from West Bengal Educators from West Bengal Indian women scholars Women educators from West Bengal 20th-century women educators