ShannonAguayo at 03:16, 13 February 2026

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{{short description|Indian independence activist and wife of Jawaharlal Nehru (1899-1936)}}
{{Cleanup|reason=requires correct style and needs referencing|date=May 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2016}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Kamala Nehru
| image = Kamala Nehru 4cr.jpg
| caption = Undated photograph
| alt = Kamala Kaul Nehru
| predecessor =
| birth_name = Kamala Kaul
| birth_date = {{birth date|1899|08|01|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Delhi]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1936|02|28|1899|08|01|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Lausanne]], Switzerland
| spouse = {{marriage|[[Jawaharlal Nehru]]|1916}}
| children = [[Indira Gandhi]]
| occupation = [[Indian independence movement|Indian independence activist]]
| parents =
| family = [[Nehru–Gandhi family]]
}}

'''Kamala Nehru''' ({{IPA|hi|kəmlɑː ˈneːɦɾuː|pron}}; {{née|'''Kaul'''}}; 1 August 1899 – 28 February 1936) was an [[List of Indian independence activists|Indian independence activist]] and the wife of [[Jawaharlal Nehru]], the first [[prime minister of India]]. Their daughter [[Indira Gandhi]] would go on to become the first and the only woman Prime Minister of India.

== Early life and marriage ==
[[File:Kamala and Jawaharlal Nehru 1916.jpg|thumb|Jawaharlal and Kamala Nehru on their wedding day, 8 February 1916]]
Kamala Kaul was born to a middle-class [[Kashmiri Pandit]] family on 1 August 1899 in [[Delhi]].{{sfn|Gopal|1976|p=31}} She was the eldest child of Jawahrmul and Rajpati Kaul; her siblings were Chand Bahadur Kaul, [[Kailas Nath Kaul]] and Swaroop Kathju. Her family observed the [[purdah]] practice among non-Kashmiri Pandits.{{sfn|Kalhan|1973|p=3}}

At the age of 16, Kaul had an [[arranged marriage]] to Jawaharlal Nehru, who was ten years her senior, on 8 February 1916. {{sfn|Jayakar|1995|pp=9–10}} Her husband went to a trip in the [[Himalayas]] shortly after their marriage.<ref name=windsor/> In his autobiography, Jawaharlal Nehru, referring to his wife, stated, "I almost overlooked her."<ref name=windsor>{{cite news|title=From years 1916 to 1964...The man and the times|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tzA_AAAAIBAJ&sjid=81AMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4355,5162968&dq=kamala+nehru&hl=en|access-date=19 January 2013|newspaper=The Windsor Star|date=27 May 1964}}</ref> Nehru gave birth to a girl in November 1917, [[Indira Gandhi|Indira Priyadarshini]], who later succeeded her father as prime minister and head of the Congress party.<ref name=windsor/>

==Contribution to the Indian Independence Movement==
Kamala was so involved with the Nehru's in the national movement that she emerged into the forefront. In the Non-Cooperation movement of 1921, she organized groups of women in [[Allahabad]] and picketed shops selling foreign [[cloth]] and [[liquor]]. When her husband was arrested to prevent him from delivering a "[[seditious]]" [[public speech]], she decided to go in his place and read it out to a large crowd of onlookers (filled with her supporters). The colonial authorities soon realized the threat that Kamala Nehru posed to them and how popular she had become with women's groups all over India. She was arrested on two additional occasions for her involvement in Independence struggle activities, along with [[Sarojini Naidu]], Kamala Nehru's mother, and many other women of the Indian independence struggle.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Nehru|first1=Jawaharlal|title=An Autobiography|date=26 January 1936|publisher=Bodley Head|location=London}}</ref><ref name="iloveindia1">{{cite web|url=http://www.iloveindia.com/indian-heroes/kamala-nehru.html|title=Kamala Nehru Biography|publisher=Iloveindia|access-date=15 September 2012}}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> During this period she started a dispensary in her house [[Swaraj Bhavan]], converting few rooms into a Congress Dispensary to treat wounded activists, their families, and other residents of Allahabad(now Prayagraj). After her death, [[Mahatma Gandhi]] with the help of other prominent leaders converted this dispensary into a proper hospital known as [[Kamla Nehru Memorial Hospital]] in her memory.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.knmhospital.org/legacy.aspx|title=KNMH : The Legacy|website=www.knmhospital.org}}</ref>

Kamala Nehru spent some time at Gandhi's ashram with [[Kasturba Gandhi]] where she built a close friendship with [[Prabhavati Devi]] – the wife of independence activist [[Jayaprakash Narayan]].{{sfn|Jayakar|1995|pp=90-92}}

==Death==
Kamala Nehru died from [[tuberculosis]] in [[Lausanne]], Switzerland, on 28 February 1936, with her daughter and [[mother-in-law]] by her side. During her last few years, Kamala Nehru was frequently ill and taken to a [[sanatorium]] in Switzerland for treatment, though she returned to India as she got well. In early 1935, as Kamala Nehru's health again deteriorated, she was taken to [[Badenweiler]] in Germany by [[Subhas Chandra Bose|Subhash Chandra Bose]] and admitted to a sanatorium for treatment. Her husband [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] was in prison in India at that time. As her health worsened, Jawaharlal Nehru was released from prison and rushed to [[Germany]] in October 1935. While Nehru's health improved initially, it started to deteriorate again in 1936, and she died on 28 February. In the prologue to his autobiography, in a chapter added after Kamala's death, Jawaharlal Nehru recounts that he was devastated and remained in mourning for months.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Nehru|first1=Jawaharlal|title=An Autobiography|date= 1940|publisher=Bodell Head|location=London|edition=2nd}}</ref>

==Legacy==
[[File:Kamala Nehru 1974 stamp of India.jpg|thumb|Nehru on a 1974 stamp of India]]
A number of institutions in India, and a road in [[Pakistan]], have been named in Kamala Nehru's honor, including:

===India===
*Kamla Nehru Park in [[Mumbai]]
*Kamala Nehru health and wellness center in [[Dindigul]]
*Kamla Nehru Balika High School in [[Patna]]
*[[Kamala Nehru College]] at [[Delhi University]]
*[[Kamla Nehru College, Korba|Kamala Nehru College]] in [[Korba, Chhattisgarh|Korba]]
*[[Kamla Nehru College for Women, Jodhpur]] in [[Jodhpur]]
*Kamala Nehru Degree Evening College in [[Bangalore]]
*[https://knipss.ac.in/ Kamla Nehru Institute of Physical and Social Science Sultanpur] in [[Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh|Sultanpur]]
*[[Kamla Nehru Memorial Hospital]] in [[Allahabad]]
*Kamala Nehru Polytechnic in [[Hyderabad]]
*Kamala Nehru Park in [[Pune]]
*[[Kamla Nehru Prani Sangrahalay]] in [[Indore]]
*Kamala Nehru Memorial Vocational Higher Secondary School Vatanappally in [[Kerala]]
*Kamala Nehru Women's College in [[Bhubaneswar]]
*Shaskiya Kamla Nehru Girls Higher Secondary School in [[Bhopal]]
*Kamal Nehru Government Girl's High School in [[Yanam]] ([[Puducherry (union territory)|Puducherry]])
*Kamala Nehru Park in Raigarh, [[Chhattisgarh]]
*Kamala Nehru Nagar in [[Ghaziabad]]
*Kamla Nehru Group of Institutions, [[Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh]]

===Pakistan===
In [[Karachi]], there is a road named after her, near the [[Mazar-e-Quaid|Mazar-e-Quaid-e-Azam]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.ndtv.com/blog/finding-kamala-nehru-in-pakistan-jinnah-in-guntur-764557|title=Blog: Finding Kamala Nehru in Pakistan, Jinnah in Guntur|work=NDTV.com|date=20 May 2015}}</ref><ref>[https://www.google.com/maps/place/Kamla+Nehru+Rd,+Jamshed+Quarters+Amil+Colony,+Karachi,+Karachi+City,+Sindh,+Pakistan/@24.8771712,67.0378085,18.72z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x3eb33e5c142de69f:0x354419fea65f959c!8m2!3d24.8780402!4d67.0393858!16s%2Fg%2F12hlkhwrg?entry=ttu Kamala Nehru Rd, Karachi]</ref>

=== In popular culture ===
''Kamala Nehru'' is a 1986 Indian [[documentary film]] directed by Ashish Mukherjee. Produced by the [[Government of India]]'s [[Films Division of India|Films Division]], it provides an overview of her life and contributions.<ref>{{Cite web|title=KAMALA NEHRU {{!}} Films Division|url=https://filmsdivision.org/shop/kamala-nehru|access-date=2021-06-12|website=filmsdivision.org|archive-date=12 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210612093105/https://filmsdivision.org/shop/kamala-nehru|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Bibliography==
* {{Cite book |title=Indira Gandhi, A Biography|year=1995 |last=Jayakar |first=Pupul |author-link=Pupul Jayakar|publisher=[[Penguin Books]]}}
* {{Cite book |title=Jawaharlal Nehru: A Biography, Volume 1: 1889-1947|year=1976 |last=Gopal |first=Sarvepalli |author-link=Sarvepalli Gopal|publisher=[[Harvard University Press]]}}
* {{Cite book |title=Kamala Nehru: An Intimate Biography|year=1973 |last=Kalhan|first=Promila |publisher=Vikas Publishing House |isbn=9780706902655}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{commons category|Kamala Nehru}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nehru, Kamala}}
[[Category:1899 births]]
[[Category:1936 deaths]]
[[Category:Spouses of prime ministers of India]]
[[Category:20th-century deaths from tuberculosis]]
[[Category:Indian Hindus]]
[[Category:Kashmiri Pandits]]
[[Category:Kashmiri women]]
[[Category:Kashmiri independence activists]]
[[Category:People from Prayagraj]]
[[Category:Nehru–Gandhi family]]
[[Category:Tuberculosis deaths in Switzerland]]
[[Category:Activists from Delhi]]
[[Category:Indian independence activists from Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of British India]]

Kamala Nehru - Revision history

ShannonAguayo at 03:16, 13 February 2026