Home » Working Women » Women from History » Vijayalakshmi Pandit Indian political leader, diplomat and one of the world's leading women in public life, Vijayalakshmi Pandit is the daughter of Motilal Nehru and sister of Jawahar Lal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India.
Vijayalakshmi Pandit was very politically active. She became an active worker in the Indian Nationalistic movement and was imprisoned thrice by the British authorities in India.
With independence, Vijayalakshmi Pandit began a distinguished diplomatic career. She led the Indian delegation to the United Nations between 1946 to 1953 and also served as India's ambassador to the countries of Moscow, North America and Mexico. In 1953, she became the first woman to be elected as the President of the United Nations General Assembly. She served as the ambassador to London between 1954 and 1961.
In 1978, she was appointed as the Indian representative to the United Nations Human Rights Commission. Being a person of great literary talent, she also published her work called " The scope of happiness: A personal memoir ".