The Most Remarkable Woman: The International Life and Diplomacy of Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit

Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, “the most remarkable woman” Eleanor Roosevelt had ever met, was a pioneering politician and diplomat celebrated internationally for her brilliance, charm, and glamour. She straddled the twentieth century, her own story intertwined with that of India and the world. She was her country’s first woman Cabinet minister, first ambassador to the United Nations, and first ambassador to the Soviet Union. She was also the first woman ambassador to the United States and the first woman elected President of the UN General Assembly. She moved easily in global aristocratic circles, even as she worked tirelessly to improve the lives of suffering millions. She traded barbs and quips with Churchill, out debated Jan Smuts, and won more attention than James Cagney. And at the tail end of her career, she stood against her own niece, Indira Gandhi, to put an end to tyranny.

This virtual talk is based on…