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{{Short description|Indian diplomat and independence activist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Dhirajlal Desai
|image =
|caption =
|office = 1st [[Ambassador of India to Switzerland]]
|prime_minister = [[Jawaharlal Nehru]]
|term_start = 17 December 1948
|term_end = 21 March 1951
|predecessor =
|successor = [[Asaf Ali]]
|order1 =
|office1 = 1st [[Holy See–India relations|Ambassadors to the Holy See]]
|prime_minister1 = [[Jawaharlal Nehru]]
|term_start1 = 1949
|term_end1 = 1951
|predecessor1 =
|successor1 = Nedyan Raghaven
|office2 = [[List of presidents of the Indian National Congress|President of the Bombay Provincial Congress Committee]]
|term2 = 1941
|predecessor2 =
|successor2 =
|birth_name = Dhirajlal Bhulabhai Desai
|birth_date = 22 June 1908
|birth_place = [[Bombay]], [[British India]]
|spouse = Madhuriben Desai
|death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1951|3|21|1908|6|22}}
|death_place =
|field =
|work_institution =
|alma_mater =
|doctoral_advisor =
|doctoral_students =
|occupation = Diplomat, Activist, Barrister
|prizes =
|footnotes =
}}
'''Dhirajlal B. Desai''' (22 June 1908 – 21 March 1951), popularly known as '''Dhirubhai''', was an Indian diplomat and independence activist. He served as India's first ambassador and plenipotentiary minister to [[Switzerland]]. He also served as the President of the [[Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee|Bombay Provincial Congress Committee]] (BPCC) in 1941.<ref name=Amritmahotsav>{{cite news |title=Dhirajlal Desai: Unsung Heroes of India's freedom struggle |url=https://amritmahotsav.nic.in/unsung-heroes-detail.htm?3320 |access-date=17 January 2023 |publisher=[[Ministry of Culture (India)|Ministry of Culture]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Source Material for a History of the Freedom Movement in India: 1942-1946 |date=1977 |publisher=the [[Government Central Press, Chennai|Government Central Press]] |page=89}}</ref> He was born in [[Bombay]], [[British India]] and was the son of lawyer and leader, [[Bhulabhai Desai]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Bhulabhai Desai Memorial Institute |url=https://prinseps.com/research/weaving-the-soul-of-art-post-independence/ |publisher=Prinseps Fine Art |access-date=17 January 2023}}</ref><ref name="buch-pf8rV7tUCN8C-729">David H. Stam: [https://books.google.com/books?id=pf8rV7tUCN8C&dq=%22Desai%2C+Dhirajlal%22&pg=PA729 ''International Dictionary of Library Histories, Band 1.''] Taylor & Francis, 2001, ISBN 978-1-57958-244-9, S. 729 {{Google books|pf8rV7tUCN8C||page=729}}</ref>

== Life and work ==
He attended [[Elphinstone College]], Bharda New High School and [[Government Law College, Mumbai|Government Law College]] in Bombay. Desai was [[Barrister]] at the [[Supreme Court of India]] and Chairman of the [[Indian National Congress]] in the [[Bombay Presidency]]. He was a director of Ameer Trading Corporation, the Indian branch of [[American Cyanamid]]'s Calco Chemical Company.

Desai served as [[Ambassador of India to Switzerland|India's first Ambassador to Switzerland]] from 17 December 1948 to 21 March 1951.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Official List|first=Indian Ambassadors|title=Indian Ambassadors Official List|url=https://www.indembassybern.gov.in/page/previous/|access-date=25 March 2021|website=indembassybern.gov.in}}</ref> He was elected as the President of the [[Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee|Bombay Provincial Congress Committee]] (BPCC) in 1941.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Bhogaraju Pattabhi Sitaramayya |author1-link=Bhogaraju Pattabhi Sitaramayya |title=Sixty Years of Congress |date=1945 |publisher=[[Indian National Congress|Congress Publications Board]]}}</ref> He was known for his speeches and oratory skills, particularly during the [[Quit India Movement|Quit India movement]]. He was a strong advocate for freedom and self-reliance and often spoke out against the [[British Empire]]'s attitude towards the [[Indian National Congress|Congress party]] and its denial of the right to free speech.<ref name=Amritmahotsav/>

Desai delivered speeches at various venues in Bombay, including Dana Bunder and [[Ghodapdeo|Ghodapdev]], and often spoke to working-class audiences, encouraging them to spin [[Charkha (spinning wheel)|charkha]] for at least half an hour a day as a means of earning a small income and becoming self-reliant.<ref name=Amritmahotsav/>

From 17 December 1948, he was accredited as an envoy in [[Bern]] and also to the [[Holy See]] and to the [[Allied Commission for Austria]] in [[Vienna]].<ref name=Obituary>Obituary Dhirajlal Bhulabhai Desai On March 21, 1951, His Excellency Mr. Dhirajlal Bhulabhai Desai, Minister of the Republic of India to Switzerland, died in Bern of a heart attack, one of the outstanding political and diplomatic personalities of his country. Born in 1908, he studied law in Bombay and London and practiced as a lawyer at the Supreme Court of Bombay, while actively dealing with economic problems. Champion of national independence, — his father was an intimate of Gandhi, — he was active in the All-India Congress and was even imprisoned because of his opposition to the established regime: After the victory of his ideas, Desai became the first chief missionary accredited by the Indian Republic in Switzerland, and later still in Austria and the Vatican 63-65, 1950, S. 46, {{Cite web |url=http://apostolische-nachfolge.de/dipl__korps.htm |title=Archivierte Kopie |access-date=19 January 2023 |archive-date=26 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160326014526/http://apostolische-nachfolge.de/dipl__korps.htm |url-status=bot: unknown }}, {{Dodis|P3178}}</ref>

Dhirajlal Desai died of [[heart attack]] on 21 March 1951 in [[Bern]]<ref name=Obituary/> at the age of 42.<ref name=Amritmahotsav/>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

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{{succession box|title=[[List of ambassadors of India to Switzerland|Indian Ambassador to Switzerland]]|before=Position established |after=[[Asaf Ali]]|years=1948–1951}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Desai, Dhirajlal}}
[[Category:1908 births]]
[[Category:1951 deaths]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of India to Switzerland]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of India to the Holy See]]

[[Category:Politicians from Bombay State]]
[[Category:Indian independence activists]]
[[Category:Indian independence activists from Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Indian National Congress]]
[[Category:Indian National Congress politicians from Maharashtra]]

Dhirajlal Desai - Revision history

DigitalKush at 20:25, 4 April 2026