2600:1702:871:3430:6951:1122:E4B1:2C76 at 18:45, 11 November 2021

2021-11-11T18:45:41Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2018}}

{{Infobox person
| name = Anasuya Sarabhai
| image = Anasuya Sarabhai in England.jpg
| birth_date = {{birth date|1885|11|11}}
| birth_place = [[Ahmedabad]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1972|11|01|1885|11|11}}
| alma_mater = [[London School of Economics]]
| relatives = [[Sarabhai family]]
}}

'''Anasuya''' or '''Anusyabehn Sarabhai''' (11 November 1885 – 1 November 1972) was a pioneer of the women’s [[labour movement]] in [[India]]. She founded the Ahmedabad [[Textile Labour Association]] (Majdoor Mahajan Sangh), India's oldest union of textile workers, in 1920 and Kanyagruha, in 1927 to educate girlas of the mills.<ref name="ATMA Website">{{cite web| url = http://www.atmaahd.com/roles2.htm| title = Role and Activities| publisher = Ahmedabad Textile Mills' Association| accessdate = 20 June 2014| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131216003529/http://www.atmaahd.com/roles2.htm| archive-date = 16 December 2013| url-status = dead| df = dmy-all}}</ref>.She was also a beloved friend and pupil of [[Mahatma Gandhi]] who considered her "Pujya"("Revered"), and it was Gandhi who made her lifelong president of Majdoor Mahajan Sangh .She was the close associate of Gandhi during his initial struggle of the [[Indian independence movement|Indian Independence Movement]] and helped him establish his ashram at [[Sabarmati Ashram|Sabarmati]].

==Early life and education==
Sarabhai was born in [[Ahmedabad]] on 11 November 1885 into the [[Sarabhai family]], a family of industrialists and business people. Both her parents died when she was nine, so she, her brother [[Ambalal Sarabhai]], and a younger sister were sent to live with an uncle.<ref name="Tribune" /> She undertook an unsuccessful [[child marriage]] at the age of 13.<ref name="Tribune" /> The marriage was later annulled. With the help of her brother, she went to England in 1912 to take a medical degree, but switched to the [[London School of Economics]] when she realised the animal dissection involved in obtaining a medical degree was in violation of her [[Jain]] beliefs.<ref name="Oxford DNB">{{cite web | url = http://www.oxforddnb.com/templates/article.jsp?articleid=96938 | title = Sarabhai family | work = Oxford Dictionary of National Biography | publisher = Oxford University Press | accessdate = 20 June 2014}}</ref> Whilst in England, she was influenced by the [[Fabian Society]], and got involved in the [[Suffragette movement]].<ref name="Tribune">{{cite web | url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130804/spectrum/main8.htm | title = A recent exhibition on Anasuya Sarabhai, popularly known as Motaben, paid a tribute to the courageous woman, who worked selflessly for the uplift of the less fortunate | work = The Tribune | accessdate = 20 June 2014 | author = Goswamy | date = 4 August 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Uglow|editor1-first=Jennifer S.|title=The International Dictionary of Women's Biography|date=1985|publisher=Continuum|location=New York|isbn=0-8264-0192-9|page=412}}</ref>

==Political career ==
Sarabhai returned to India in 1913<ref name="tbi1">{{cite web|title=What Made Anasuya Sarabhai, a Woman Born to Privilege, Become India's First Woman Trade Union Leader?|url=https://www.thebetterindia.com/73140/anasuya-sarabhai-labour-movement-ahmedabad/|publisher=thebetterindia.com|accessdate=11 November 2017}}</ref> and started working for betterment of women and the poor, particularly among mill workers. She also started a school. She decided to get involved in the labour movement after witnessing exhausted female mill workers returning home after a 36-hour shift. She helped organise textile workers in a 1914 strike in Ahmedabad. She was also involved in a month-long strike in 1918, where weavers were asking for a 50 per cent increase in wages and were being offered 20 per cent. [[Mahatma Gandhi]], a friend of the family, was by then acting as a mentor to Sarabhai.<ref name="Tribune" /> Gandhi began a hunger strike on the workers' behalf, and the workers eventually obtained a 35 per cent increase. During the time, Sarabhai organized daily mass meetings of the workers that Gandhi addressed.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Jha|first1=Pravin Kumar|title=Indian Politics in Comparative Perspective|date=2012|publisher=Pearson Education India|isbn=9788131798874|page=39|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I8OuIjo6KOAC|accessdate=11 November 2017}}</ref> Following this, in 1920, the Ahmedabad Textile Labour Association (Majdoor Mahajan Sangh) was formed and Anasuya was made it's lifelong president by Gandhi.<ref name="ATMA Website"/>

Sarabhai organized assorted craft unions early in her career and by 1920 was instrumental in establishing the conglomerate Textile Labour Association. Throughout her life, Sarabhai assisted with negotiations and dispute resolution for the labourers that she worked with.<ref name="WiWH"/>

==Legacy and death==
Sarabhai was called ''Motaben'', [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]] for "elder sister".<ref name="Tribune" /> She mentored [[Ela Bhatt]], founder of the [[Self-Employed Women's Association of India]] (SEWA).<ref name="DNA">{{cite web | url=http://www.dnaindia.com/ahmedabad/report-sewa-founder-ela-bhatt-pays-tribute-to-anasuya-sarabhai-1866391 | title = Sewa founder Ela Bhatt pays tribute to Anasuya Sarabhai | work = [[Daily News and Analysis]] | date = 28 July 2013 | accessdate=20 June 2014 | author = Gargi Gupta}}</ref> Sarabhai died on 1 November 1972.<ref name="DNA" /><ref name="WiWH">{{cite book|last1=Cooksey|first1=Gloria|title=Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia|date=1999|publisher=Yorkin Publ. [u.a.]|location=Waterford, Connecticut|isbn=0-7876-4080-8|url=https://archive.org/details/womeninworldhist01comm|url-status=dead|chapter=Sarabhai, Anusyabehn (1885–1972)|url-access=registration}}</ref>

On 11 November 2017, Google celebrated Sarabhai's 132nd birthday with a [[Google Doodle]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Google celebrates 132nd birth anniversary of Anasuya Sarabhai|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/google-celebrates-132nd-birth-anniversary-of-anasuya-sarabhai/article20190056.ece|accessdate=11 November 2017|work=The Hindu|date=11 November 2017}}</ref> visible to users in India.<ref>{{cite web|title=Anasuya Sarabhai's 132nd Birthday|url=http://www.google.com/doodles/anasuya-sarabhais-132nd-birthday|website=Google|accessdate=11 November 2017|language=en|date=11 November 2017}}</ref>

Anasuya Sarabhai was the aunt of Indian scientist [[Vikram Sarabhai]] who is regarded as the father of the [[Indian Space Research Organisation|Indian space program]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bonner|first1=Arthur|title=Averting the Apocalypse: Social Movements in India Today|date=1990|publisher=Duke University Press|isbn=0822310481|page=[https://archive.org/details/avertingapocalyp00bonn/page/193 193]|url=https://archive.org/details/avertingapocalyp00bonn|url-access=registration|accessdate=11 November 2017|language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Sarabhai family]]
*[[List of Jains]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarabhai, Anasuya}}
[[Category:Women in Gujarat politics]]
[[Category:1972 deaths]]
[[Category:1885 births]]
[[Category:Gujarati people]]
[[Category:Gujarat in Indian independence movement]]
[[Category:Indian women trade unionists]]
[[Category:Sarabhai family]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian women]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian people]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian politicians]]
[[Category:Trade unionists from Gujarat]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian Jains]]
[[Category:Politicians from Ahmedabad]]
[[Category:Alumni of the London School of Economics]]

Anasuya Sarabhai - Revision history

2600:1702:871:3430:6951:1122:E4B1:2C76 at 18:45, 11 November 2021