Rudratree at 04:51, 29 March 2025

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{{Short description|Indian social reformer and suffragist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
[[File:Indian Suffragettes on the Women's Coronation Procession.jpg|thumb|Indian suffragists on the [[Women's Coronation Procession]] of 1911, including Lolita Roy on the left.]]

'''Lolita Roy''' (born in 1865),<ref name=":0" /> also known as '''Mrs. P. L. Roy''', was an Indian social reformer and [[Women's suffrage|suffragist]]<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Roy, Lolita [known as Mrs P. L. Roy] (b. 1865), social reformer and suffragist|url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-369120|access-date=2020-11-12|website=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|date=2019 |language=en|doi=10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.369120|isbn=978-0-19-861412-8 |last1=Mukherjee |first1=Sumita }}</ref> who played an active role in the social life of Indians in [[London]], as well as in campaigns for women's suffrage in Britain and India.<ref name=":0" /> She was described in ''[[The Vote]]'' in 1911 as 'one of the most emancipated of Indian women'.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hoque|first=Nikhat|date=2019-02-03|title=Meet 7 Indian Suffragettes Of The British Suffrage Movement|url=https://feminisminindia.com/2019/02/04/7-indian-suffragettes-british/|access-date=2020-11-12|website=Feminism In India|language=en-US}}</ref>

== Life ==
Lolita Roy was born in [[Kolkata|Calcutta]], [[India]] in 1865.<ref name=":0" /> She married Piera Lal Roy, a barrister and director of public prosecutions<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Bloomsbury Collections - Suffrage and the Arts - Visual Culture, Politics and Enterprise|url=https://www.bloomsburycollections.com/book/suffrage-and-the-arts-visual-culture-politics-and-enterprise/foreword|access-date=2020-11-12|website=www.bloomsburycollections.com}}</ref> in Calcutta, in about 1886, and the couple went on to have six children: Leilavati, Miravati, Paresh Lal, Hiravati, [[Indra Lal Roy|Indra Lal]], and Lolit Kumar.<ref name=":0" /> By 1900, Roy and her children were living in [[West London]].<ref name=":0" />

In London, Roy was active in multiple social and activist associations for Indians,<ref name=":0" /> including as president of the London Indian Union Society<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|date=2017-07-24|title=Suffrage Stories: Black And Minority Ethnic Women: Is There A 'Hidden History'?|url=https://womanandhersphere.com/2017/07/24/suffrage-stories-black-and-minority-ethnic-women-is-there-a-hidden-history/|access-date=2020-11-12|website=Woman and her Sphere|language=en}}</ref> and a member of the committee of the [[National Indian Association]] (founded by [[Mary Carpenter]] in 1870).<ref name=":0" /> The London Union Society helped to support Indian university students in London (of which there were then around 700).<ref name=":0" /> In 1909, she helped to found the [[Indian Women's Education Association]], which sought to raise funds to bring Indian women to Britain to train as teachers.<ref name=":0" />

On 17 June 1911, the [[Women's Social and Political Union]]<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|title=Lolita Roy and Indian Suffragettes, Coronation Procession - Museum of London|url=https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/lolita-roy-and-indian-suffragettes-coronation-procession-museum-of-london/cgEtCMXce-TcPg|access-date=2020-11-12|website=Google Arts & Culture|language=en}}</ref> organised a Women's Coronation Procession, using the coronation of [[George V|King George V]] to demand the vote.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|title=Black History Month: Diversity and the British female Suffrage movement|url=https://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/blog/diversity-british-female-suffrage-movement|access-date=2020-11-12|website=Fawcett Society|date=30 October 2017 |language=en}}</ref> [[Jane Cobden]] and Roy gathered a small Indian contingent in advance of the procession,<ref name=":2" /> forming 'part of the 'Imperial contingent' and intended to show the strength of support for women's suffrage throughout the Empire'.<ref name=":3" /> A photograph from the procession includes Roy, Mrs. [[Bhagwati Bhola Nauth]], and Mrs. Leilavati Mukerjea (Roy's daughter).<ref name=":1" /> Writing of their presence on the march many years later, Indian politician [[Sushama Sen]] recalled:<blockquote>At this time the Women’s Suffragette movement who were fighting for their votes, was at its height. In those days there were few Indian women in London. Hearing of me they sent me an invitation to join their demonstration at Piccadilly Circus, and to march with them led by [[Emmeline Pankhurst|Mrs Pankhurst]] to the Parliament House... It was a great experience for me, at the same time it was a novel sight for a single Indian woman amidst the procession, and I was the subject of public gaze.<ref name=":4" /></blockquote>Activist and theosophist [[Annie Besant]] also marched with the Indian suffragists.<ref name=":3" />

In 1912 and 1913, Roy assisted in the production of several Indian plays staged in London and [[Cambridge]], offering advice and helping performers with traditional clothing such as [[turban]]s and [[sari]]s.<ref name=":0" />

During [[World War I]], two of Roy's sons saw active duty.<ref name=":0" /> Her eldest, [[Paresh Lal Roy]] served in the [[Honourable Artillery Company]] for the duration of the war.<ref name=":0" /> On his return to India in the 1920s, he played a key role in popularising the sport of [[boxing]].<ref name=":0" /> Her middle son, Indra Lal Roy (1898–1918), joined the [[Royal Flying Corps]], and was killed in action.<ref name=":0" /> Lolita Roy served as honorary secretary of the Eastern League, which had been established to fundraise for the Indian Soldiers' Fund, providing clothing, food, and other items to Indian soldiers.<ref name=":0" /> In 1916, along with other suffragists, Roy helped to organise a 'Ladies Day', where items were sold at [[Haymarket, London]] to raise money for the cause.<ref name=":0" />

As well as her work for suffrage in Britain, Roy worked actively for women's right to vote in India. This included petitioning the British government, taking part in a deputation to the secretary of state for India, attending a meeting at the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]], and public speaking in support of the Indian women's suffrage. Throughout the 1920s she continued to work for suffrage in India, including through the [[All India Women's Conference|All-India Women's Conference]]<ref name=":0" />

Lolita Roy's death date is unknown.<ref name=":0" />

Journalist and media entrepreneur [[Prannoy Roy]] is her great grandson.

== Legacy ==
In recent years, British historians and activists have sought to give greater recognition to the contributions of people of foreign origin within the British suffrage movement, including Lolita Roy.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Indian Suffragettes: Changing Public Understanding of Suffrage Histories|url=https://www.bristol.ac.uk/arts/impact/impact-case-study-1-indian-suffragettes/|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=|website=University of Bristol}}</ref> Dr. [[Sumita Mukherjee]], a historian of the British Empire and the Indian Subcontinent,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Unearthed photograph highlights important role of Indian suffragettes|url=https://www.lse.ac.uk/News/Latest-news-from-LSE/2019/g-July-2019/Unearthed-photograph-highlights-important-role-of-Indian-suffragettes.aspx|access-date=2020-11-12|website=London School of Economics and Political Science|date=July 2019 |language=en-GB}}</ref> has sought to challenge 'pre-existing ideas surrounding the suffrage movement particularly in relation to the public commemoration in 2018 of the Centenary of the Representation of the People Act which, in 1918, gave some women the right to vote in the UK'. She argues that 'Western popular beliefs have largely ignored the roles of women of colour in bringing about this change'.<ref name=":5" /> Mukherjee's research has focused on the role of Indian suffrage campaigners, 'revealing that there was a thriving suffrage movement in the Indian subcontinent and that these women forged global networks with other suffrage campaigners transnationally'.<ref name=":5" />

In April 2018, a plinth was erected underneath the [[Millicent Fawcett]] statue in [[Parliament Square]], which featured the images of two women of Indian origin: the [[Norfolk]]-born goddaughter of [[Queen Victoria]],<ref name=":2" /> [[Sophia Duleep Singh]], and Lolita Roy.<ref name=":5" /> In the same year, an exhibition was staged at [[Hammersmith Town Hall]] featuring an artwork celebrating Roy's work in the suffrage movement.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-10-17|title=New town hall exhibition celebrates a pioneering Indian suffragette from Hammersmith|url=https://www.lbhf.gov.uk/articles/news/2018/10/new-town-hall-exhibition-celebrates-pioneering-indian-suffragette-hammersmith|access-date=2020-11-12|website=LBHF|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-10-03|title=Visit LDN WMN: a series of free public artworks|url=https://www.london.gov.uk//about-us/mayor-london/behindeverygreatcity/visit-ldn-wmn-series-free-public-artworks-0|access-date=2020-11-12|website=London City Hall|language=en-GB}}</ref>

== References ==
<references />

== External links ==
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/hammersmithandfulham/albums/72157672500856807/ Lolita Roy Exhibition] on [[Flickr]]
* [https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/photograph-of-indian-suffragettes-on-the-womens-coronation-procession Indian Suffragettes on the Women's Coronation Procession] at the [[British Library]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roy, Lolita}}
[[Category:1865 births]]
[[Category:20th-century deaths]]
[[Category:Year of death unknown]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian women]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian people]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian people]]
[[Category:English suffragettes]]
[[Category:Suffragists from London]]
[[Category:Indian suffragists]]
[[Category:Women's suffrage in India]]
[[Category:History of women in India]]
[[Category:People from the Bengal Presidency]]
[[Category:Activists from Kolkata]]

Lolita Roy - Revision history

Rudratree at 04:51, 29 March 2025