- Byname of:
- Madeleine Slade
- Born:
- November 22, 1892, Surrey, England
- Died:
- July 20, 1982, Vienna, Austria (aged 89)
Mirabehn
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Who was Mirabehn?
Mirabehn, born Madeleine Slade in Surrey, England, in 1892, was a British-born follower of Mahatma Gandhi and an independence activist in India. Inspired by Gandhi's principles of nonviolence, she moved to India in 1925 and became his disciple, adopting the name Mirabehn, meaning "Sister Mira".
She embraced a simple life, wearing a white sari and dedicating herself to spinning cotton and working in villages. Mirabehn was a close confidante of Gandhi, accompanying him on tours and advocating for India's freedom internationally. She was arrested multiple times for her involvement in the independence movement. After independence, she continued to work on community projects and environmental issues. Mirabehn spent her final years near Vienna and was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian honor, a year before her death in 1982.
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Where was Mirabehn originally from?
Mirabehn, also known as Madeleine Slade, was born into an aristocratic English family in Surrey, England, on November 22, 1892. Her father, Sir Edmond Slade, was a rear admiral in the British Royal Navy.
In 1925, she moved to India to become a disciple of Mahatma Gandhi, who gave her the name Mirabehn, meaning "Sister Mira". She became deeply involved in India's independence movement, advocating nonviolence and working in villages. Mirabehn was arrested multiple times by the British for her activism. After spending 34 years in India, Mirabehn returned to England in 1959 and later moved to Vienna, where she died on July 20, 1982.
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Why is Mirabehn known as an activist?
Mirabehn, born Madeleine Slade, was a British-born follower of Mahatma Gandhi who actively participated in India’s independence movement. Inspired by Gandhi's principles of nonviolence, she moved to India in 1925 and became a key champion for India's freedom.
Mirabehn spread the message of nonviolence and was considered important to India’s independence movement by the British. She was arrested multiple times, including in 1932–33 for providing information to Europe and America about Indian conditions, and in 1942, she was imprisoned with Gandhi.
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How did Mirabehn become involved in India's independence movement?
Mirabehn, born Madeleine Slade, became involved in India's independence movement after reading Romain Rolland's biography of Mahatma Gandhi. Fascinated by Gandhi's principles of nonviolence, she contacted him and asked to become his disciple. In 1925, she moved to India and joined his ashram, where Gandhi gave her the name Mirabehn.
Mirabehn became a devoted worker, spreading nonviolence and championing India's freedom. She accompanied Gandhi on tours, attended the London Round Table Conference in 1931, and lectured in the United States. The British considered her important to India's independence movement and arrested her multiple times.
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What was Mirabehn's relationship with Mahatma Gandhi?
Mirabehn, born Madeleine Slade, was a British-born follower of Mahatma Gandhi who became deeply involved in India’s independence movement.
After reading Romain Rolland’s biography of Gandhi, Slade became fascinated by his principles of nonviolence and asked to become his disciple. Gandhi gave her the name Mirabehn, after Mira Bai, a Hindu mystic. She lived at his ashram, wore a white sari, and took a vow of celibacy. Mirabehn often accompanied Gandhi on his tours and looked after his personal needs, becoming one of his confidants. She was an ardent champion for India’s freedom and was arrested multiple times for her involvement in the movement.
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What were some major contributions Mirabehn made to India's freedom struggle?
Mirabehn, originally named Madeleine Slade, significantly contributed to India's freedom movement as a devoted follower of Mahatma Gandhi. After arriving in India in 1925, she embraced Indian culture, became a close confidante of Gandhi, and actively promoted nonviolence.
She tirelessly championed India's independence on the international stage and accompanied Gandhi to the London Round Table Conference in 1931. Mirabehn faced multiple arrests, including during the civil disobedience movement in 1932–33, and was imprisoned with Gandhi in 1942. Post-independence, she continued to serve India through community projects and environmental work.
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Mirabehn (born November 22, 1892, Surrey, England—died July 20, 1982, Vienna, Austria) was a British-born follower of Mahatma Gandhi who participated in the movement for India’s independence.
Madeleine Slade was the daughter of an English aristocratic family. Because her father, Sir Edmond Slade, was a rear admiral in the British Royal Navy and was often away, Madeleine and her siblings spent much of their childhood at their grandfather’s country home in Surrey. She developed a strong admiration for the music of Ludwig van Beethoven and eventually became a concert manager.
Her aristocratic existence took a life-changing turn after she read French novelist and essayist Romain Rolland’s 1924 biography of Gandhi. In the book the author had described Gandhi as the greatest personality of the 20th century. Slade became fascinated by the principles of nonviolence and contacted Gandhi himself, asking if she could become his disciple and live in his ashram (ashrama; religious retreat) in the western Indian region of Gujarat. Gandhi, while replying in the affirmative, forewarned her of the difficulties of such a life. Undeterred, Slade reached India in November 1925 and made India her home for the next 34 years. She chose not to return to England for personal visits, even when her father died in 1926.
Upon her arrival at the ashram, Gandhi gave her the nickname Mirabehn (“Sister Mira”), named for Mira (or Meera) Bai, the Hindu mystic and great devotee to the god Krishna. She started wearing a white sari, cut her hair short, and took a vow of celibacy. During the first two years in India, she learned Hindi and spent much time spinning and carding cotton. Subsequently, she started traveling to various parts of the country to work in villages.
Mirabehn often accompanied Gandhi on his tours and looked after his personal needs. She became one of Gandhi’s confidants and an ardent champion internationally for India’s freedom from British rule and was with Gandhi at the London Round Table Conference in 1931. In 1934 she made a brief visit to the United States for lectures and radio talks and met first lady Eleanor Roosevelt for an interview at the White House. Before returning to India, she conducted interviews with a number of British politicians in the United Kingdom—Sir Samuel Hoare, Lord Halifax, Winston Churchill, David Lloyd George, and Clement Attlee—as well as the South African leader Jan Smuts.
A devoted worker, Mirabehn was active in spreading the spirit of nonviolence, and she was considered by the British to be important to India’s independence movement. She was arrested multiple times, including during a period of civil disobedience in 1932–33, when she was detained on the charge of supplying information to Europe and America regarding conditions prevailing in India; and in 1942, when she was imprisoned in the Aga Khan Palace in Pune along with Gandhi and his wife, Kasturba (the latter died there in 1944).
In 1946 Mirabehn was appointed as honorary special adviser to the Uttar Pradesh government to assist in a campaign to expand agricultural production. In 1947 she set up an ashram near Rishikesh. Following Gandhi’s assassination in 1948, Mirabehn decided to stay in India. For the next 11 years, she traveled to various Indian states, took on community projects including one that came to be known as the Gopal Ashram in the Bhilangana valley (now in the state of Uttarakhand), and worked on environmental issues such as those preventing deforestation and implementing flood-control measures. She even experimented with the introduction of Dexter cattle from England for crossbreeding with the yak in an area of Jammu and Kashmir state (now in Ladakh union territory).
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Mirabehn returned to England in 1959 and a year later moved to a house near Vienna, where she spent the remaining years of her life. A year before her death, the Indian government conferred on her the Padma Vibhushan medal, the country’s second highest civilian honour.
Among her writings are New and Old Gleanings, published in 1960 (an updated edition of Gleanings Gathered at Bapu’s Feet, originally published in 1949), and her autobiography, The Spirit’s Pilgrimage, also published in 1960.