Aparna Basu (31 October 1931 – 3 December 2018) was an Indian historian, author, social worker and advocate for women's rights. She was a professor of Modern Indian history and head of the History department at

Delhi University The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...

. In her later career, she served as President of the

All India Women's Conference The All India Women's Conference (AIWC) is a non-governmental organisation ( NGO) based in Delhi. It was founded in 1927 by Margaret Cousins in order to improve educational efforts for women and children and has expanded its scope to also tack ...

(AIWC) and chairperson of the National Gandhi Museum in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

Early life and education

Basu was born in

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

to Saudamini (née Nilkanth) and Gaganvihari Lallubhai Mehta. Her father was a member of the first

Planning Commission of India The Planning Commission was an institution in the Government of India which formulated India's Five-Year Plans, among other functions. In his first Independence Day speech in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced his intention to diss ...

and later became India's Ambassador to the United States. Her mother, Saudamini, was a social worker who was president of AIWC Calcutta and president of

Harijan Sevak Sangh Harijan Sevak Sangh, formerly All India Anti Untouchability League, is a non-profit organisation founded by Mahatma Gandhi in 1932 to eradicate untouchability in India, working for Harijan or Dalit people and upliftment of Depressed Class of I ...

. Basu had her school education in

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

. She received a B.A. Honors degree from

Elphinstone College Elphinstone College is one of the constituent colleges of Dr. Homi Bhabha State University, a state cluster university. Established in 1856, it is one of the oldest colleges in Mumbai. It played a major role in shaping and developing the edu ...

Bombay University University of Mumbai is a public state university in Mumbai. It is one of the largest university systems in the world with over 549,000 students on its campuses and affiliated colleges. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. It was est ...

. She went on to earn a second B.A., an M.A., and a Ph.D. in history from

Newnham College Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millicen ...

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. She also earned an M.A. from

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Career

Basu worked at the

MIT Center for International Studies The MIT Center for International Studies (CIS) is an academic research center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It sponsors work focusing on international relations, security studies, international migration, human rights and justice ...

Lady Shri Ram College Lady Shri Ram College (LSR) is a constituent women's college, affiliated with the University of Delhi. History Established in 1956 in New Delhi by the late Lala Shri Ram in memory of his wife Phoolan Devi (Lady Shri Ram), the college bega ...

, Delhi University, Elphinstone College, and

Jadavpur University Jadavpur University ( abbr. JU) is a public state funded research university with its main campus located at Jadavpur, Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It was established on 25 July in 1906 as ''Bengal Technical Institute'' and was converted into ...

in Calcutta. She joined the history department of Delhi University as a reader in 1970, and later became professor of modern history and retired as head of the department. Basu was a founding member of the Indian Association of Women's Studies and of the International Federation for Research in Women's History. She served multiple roles in the All India Women's Conference (AIWC), including president (2002–2004). During her time at AIWC, spoke on child labor issues in India and women's rights. From 2013 until the time of her death in 2018, she served as Chairperson, National Gandhi Museum, New Delhi. She also served as chair of the All India Association for the Eradication of Illiteracy of Women, which runs centers in several parts of India for imparting functional literacy to women. Basu was known for her work on the history of education and women's history in India.

Selected publications

* * * * * Review for ''Mridula Sarabhai'' *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Basu, Aparna 1931 births 2018 deaths Elphinstone College alumni Alumni of the University of Cambridge George Washington University alumni 20th-century Indian historians Indian women's rights activists Academic staff of Delhi University