Sarojini was born in Hyderabad on 13 February, 1879. Her father, Aghorenath Chattopadhyay, came from Brahmangarh, a village in East Bengal of undivided Bengal. Her mother’s name was Varada Sundari. From her early years, Sarojini showed signs of her extraordinary talent. She began to write poems in English language from her school days. At thirteen, she wrote a long poem, a la Lady of the Lake- 1,300 lines, in six days. At thirteen, she also, wrote a drama of 2,000 lines in English.

While at Madras, Sarojini passed the Matriculation Examination at the age of twelve, obtaining a First Class, from the Madras University. In 1895, Sarojini was sent by her father to King’s College, London, and Girton, Cambridge for higher education. But she returned to India without a degree, at the age of eighteen, although her study of English literature and her personal contact with the liter­ary world in London was of far greater value than mere aca­demic distinction. In her later years, she became a Member of the Royal Literary Society, London, and was conferred the degree of Doctorate by many universities.

In 1898, Sarojini married Dr. Govinda Rajulu Naidu of Andhra Pradesh. In 1902, she met Gopal Krishna Gokhale who inspired her to participate in the freedom movement of the Indian National Congress. Since then, she sacrificed her poetic creations for the sake of her motherland. Later in her life, she came in touch with Gandhiji, with whom she visited London as a delegate member of Indian representatives who attended the Round Table Conferences held in London.

Sarojini Naidu became the President of the Congress for sometime. She took active part in the Civil Disobedience Movement, and also the movement launched by Gandhiji against the Salt Laws.

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Sarojini was arrested and sent to jail. She suffered fur­ther imprisonment in 1940, when Gandhiji launched a cam­paign of individual Satyagraha against participation in the war, and again, when mass arrests were made over the ‘Quit India’ resolution passed by the Congress.

India won her freedom on 15 “August, 1947. Sarojini Naidu was made the Governor of Uttar Pradesh in recogni­tion of her selfless service to the nation. In 1949, Sarojini’s health began to fail. And on 2 March, 1949, Sarojini Naidu, better known as the ‘Nightingale of India’, passed away.