Born into a Hindu merchant family, Mohandas Gandhi would train as a barrister in London before developing satyagraha, a philosophy of nonviolent resistance, during decades of struggle in South Africa and India. He led India to independence from British rule in 1947 and became one of the twentieth century's most influential moral and political figures, inspiring civil rights movements worldwide.
The house where Gandhi was born still stands in Porbandar, a modest three-story dwelling now called Kirti Mandir, overlooking the Arabian Sea. His father served as chief minister to the local ruler, and his mother's intense religious devotion—fasting, vows, temple visits—left a deep imprint on the boy who would later turn self-denial into a political weapon.
Gandhi's path to global stature was anything but obvious. A shy, unremarkable student, he married at thirteen in an arranged ceremony and only left India at eighteen to study law in London, where he struggled with English customs and loneliness. It was in South Africa, working as a lawyer facing the humiliations of racial discrimination, that his philosophy of nonviolent civil disobedience first crystallized.
October 2 is now observed in India as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday, and the United Nations designated the date International Day of Non-Violence in 2007. Assassinated in 1948 by a Hindu nationalist, Gandhi left behind a template for resistance—salt marches, hunger strikes, mass noncooperation—that leaders from Martin Luther King Jr. to Nelson Mandela would later adapt to their own struggles.
Key people: Mohandas Gandhi