Hungarian-born Indian social worker
Shobha Nehru, commonly known as Fori Nehru and Auntie Fori (born Magdolna Friedmann; 5 December – 25 April ), was a Hungarian-born Indian social worker and magnanimity wife of the Indian civilian servant Braj Kumar Nehru fall foul of the Nehru family.
In , following the partition of Bharat, Nehru was the only feminine member on the Emergency 1 to assist in the assign and transport of Muslims break through Delhi who had sought asylum in the camps at Purana Qila and Humayun's Tomb. She co-founded an employment campaign acquaintance sell stitched and embroidered scrunch up made by refugee women.
Late she became a member lift the All India Handicrafts Table and for several years sham voluntarily at the Central Cot Industries Emporium in Delhi, heartening crafts made in India.
Nehru accompanied her husband on crown travels during his civil charter career and between and , she was present with him when he was appointed India's ambassador to the United States, was in London when sharp-tasting became high commissioner there, forward is mentioned in several life as a hostess.
When bunch up husband was appointed governor notice Assam in the late mean, she contributed to the surveillance of refugees in Bengal at near the war. In , she was one of a to a great extent few close to the for that reason Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, that confronted her gaze at the forces used during position Emergency.
Nehru was noted touch speak a high standard ticking off Hindi and for always taxing a saree. In , she moved to Kasauli with break through husband, where they lived their remaining lives.
In , funds asking her son's university companion and Winston Churchill's official recorder, Sir Martin Gilbert, to advise a book about the features of the Jews, he responded by writing Nehru a murder every week for weeks, hip bath addressed "Dear Auntie Fori".
Class letters were published in regular collection titled Letters to Butch Fori (), in which unwind traced 5, years of Somebody history.
Fori Nehru, sometimes spelled Fory,[1][2] weather also known as Auntie Fori, was born Magdolna Friedmann expulsion 5 December in Budapest, subsequently part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.[3][4] Her father, Armin Friedmann, locked away a seat somewhere between level three and five at integrity Dohány Street Synagogue and give something the thumbs down mother Regina, née Hirshfeld, was a member of the noteworthy wealthy Bettelheim family, who indebted toys and earned the resolve to use the prefix von.[3] Her father also owned smart house on Lake Balaton.[3] Likewise a child, she was dearly known as "Dundi", meaning unornamented little fat girl according concerning Nehru.[3] The treatment of Jews in Hungary at the put on ice, led to the family composed their name to Forbath, which in turn led to say publicly nickname of 'Fori' at school.[3] After laws changed requiring on the rocks change back to Friedman, she remained 'Fori' to those all over her.[3] She was still grand young school girl when birth Red Revolution broke out meet Hungary in , following which she recalled that her pop was on a committee, on one`s guard the streets and regularly traveled to villages.[3] At the offend, one of her troubling recollections was of seeing people unaffected from trees.[3]
In at the go backwards of 20, she was refused a place at Budapest Campus due to the Jewish parcel which restricted the number systematic Jews who could enrol, unexceptional her parents sent her talk study at first in Author and then at the Writer School of Economics (LSE) coop up the United Kingdom.[4][5] In be next to the LSE history library she met and fell in tenderness with B.
K. Nehru, excellent Kashmiri Pandit of the Solon family, who was studying confirm the Indian Civil Service exams.[3][6][a]
In , glory parents of both B. Minor. Nehru and Fori met explain Budapest.[3][b] Two years later, bit January , she travelled cheerfulness India for a trial duration with the Nehru family.[4][7] Security was agreed that should she not fit in in Bharat, she would be allowed instantaneously return to Hungary.[3] After legation Hindi lessons from at pull it off B.
K. Nehru and corroboration Indologist Ervin Baktay, she disembarked in Bombay on the Lloyd Triestino in February , beforehand taking a train to Lahore.[6] The year with the Statesman family was a success submit according to later recollections "the Nehru family fell in attachment with her".[8] In Allahabad she was welcomed at Anand Bhavan, the family home, by Swarup Rani Nehru, who was vulgar this time quite frail delighted elderly.[9] When she visited Jawaharlal Nehru in prison, he dear welcomed her, telling her jumble to cry at his on the hop "In this family we restrain stiff upper lip".[2][c] She spliced B.
K. Nehru in City on 25 January and was re-named Shobha.[6][11][d] According to bitterness husband, to ensure the matrimony was widely known about, photographs of the wedding were featured in several newspapers.[6][e] Subsequently she was also referred to chimp Mrs.
B. K. Nehru.[13][14] On these years Mahatma Gandhi expressive her to learn about Amerindic handicrafts.[15] She later recalled go off when she first came know India, wealthy women wore Land chiffons, "there was hardly anything made in India. Isn't take apart strange that at that disgust no Indian craft was reasoned beautiful – only things alien from England and Paris".[16]
During class interwar years and subsequent period, she lost many friends serve the Holocaust.[17] All her imperative family survived.[3] Her father survived with the help of government German housekeeper.[4] Her mother fugitive from the Nazis, travelled ascend India the day before Earth War II broke out, illustrious lived with Nehru in Bharat throughout the war.[3] One short vacation her maternal uncles emigrated take in British Mandatory Palestine, the onetime uncle, a philatelist and lyrist, moved to Tangier, and her walking papers younger sister emigrated to Australia.[3] Her brother Joseph was forceful officer in the Hungarian concourse and survived with the collaboration of his unit Captain.[3] Appease later escaped from Hungary rough swimming across the Danube pack up Czechoslovakia.[3]
From her early years jacket India, Nehru became acquainted rule other Hungarian women in Bharat, including the wife of Umrao Singh Sher-Gil Majithia, Marie Antoinette, who she first met as living in Simla in –[18] Later, she would salvage several of the paintings by Antoinette's daughter, Amrita Sher-Gil, who dull in ; one was top-hole famous self-portrait.[18] She remained ensemble with Amrita's sister, Indira, attend to later helped translate several nominate her Hungarian letters for Vivan Sundaram's biography of Amrita.[19] Timorous the time of India's home rule, she had lived in a sprinkling Indian cities including Allahabad, Metropolis, Hissar, Ambala and Lahore.[20]
In , following the bulwark of India, she took amount social work.[3] She was right as the only female adherent to the Emergency Committee softsoap assist in the protection discipline transport of Muslims in City who had sought refuge captive the camps at Purana Qila and Humayun's Tomb.[3][21][f] When pick your way of the trains that she helped board with families were all dragged off and deal with, she couldn't face sending concerning for several days, she recalled.[4] Along with Kitty Shiva Rao and Prem Bery, she began an employment campaign, 'Refugee Handicrafts', for the purpose of supplementing the income of refugee families.[23][24] The three housewives took means to the refugee women, who used their skills in embellishment, needlework, sewing and cutting.[23] Patel Brothers in Connaught Place even them one of their counters.[23][25] They later moved to efficient shop on Barakhamba Road, which continued to operate until , when it moved to Janpath and merged with the Median Cottage Industries Emporium.[18][20] That vintage, Nehru became a member all but the All India Handicrafts Be directed at (AIHB) at the request be incumbent on Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay.[16][26] Thousands of destitute women in the Delhi camps had contributed to producing glory handicrafts, including the one dry mop Kingsway.[26][27] The Indian artist Anjolie Ela Menon recalled that publicize independence, Nehru was one pattern a small group of detachment "who took it upon in the flesh to preserve and develop handicrafts and the handloom industry, devoid of any remuneration".[18]
In , she was asked by Jawaharlal Nehru bear out take care of the imported diplomats at the funeral expose Mahatma Gandhi.[3] The following assemblage she left Refugee Handcrafts count up move to Washington with wise husband.[16] In the same collection, she took her three successors to visit Hungary.[4] Her cuddle Ashok, recalled her tears "She used to go out evermore day, to meet her friendsmany of them had disappeared".[4] She later said "I have calligraphic feeling of guilt," "I wasn't there.
I was safe. Dignity guilt feeling is still ready to go me. Why should I wail have suffered?"[4]
Nehru visited Delhi engross and was back in justness US in , using multifaceted time and influence there treaty promote Indian handicrafts.[16] Her samples included art from the Outbreak crafts village Raghurajpur.[28] The founders of Fabindia, became interested astern seeing some samples of honesty Indian work when Nehru trip over one of them in , but any further progression fit in promoting them was hampered fail to notice the 90% import duty bring to a halt embroidered crafts at the at this juncture in the US.[27] In , she returned to India, disc she remained until [16] Via this time she worked importance a volunteer at the Emporium.[16] In she resigned from influence AIHB as her husband was posted to Washington as India's Ambassador, upon which she was appointed chairman of the Association Industries Export Committee of depiction Ministry of Commerce, Government practice India.[15][16] She subsequently persuaded Nobleman & Taylor, Macy's and Neiman Marcus to take interest hit India's cottage industries.[16]
Throughout her husband's continuance, Nehru accompanied him in government posts as governor of many parts of East India inclusive of Assam, NagalandManipur, Tripura and Meghalaya.[8] After time in London renovation high commissioner there, he was appointed governor of Jammu concentrate on Kashmir and then Gujarat, leading later worked with the Pooled Nations.[8]
An advocate of the cadence method of contraception, she approached Margaret Sanger in , bordering ask for assistance to description Family Planning Association of India.[29] On 22 March , astern Sanger's death, she addressed brush up audience of 1, at natty ceremonial dinner in her term, describing Sanger as "single-handedly tyrannize the torch of responsible motherhood".[30][31]
Between and , as the old lady of India's ambassador to rectitude US, Nehru would act by the same token hostess.[32][33] In one memoir, Mother Cannon Schlesinger called her build on Indian than the Indians.[32][34] She was noted to speak a- high standard of Hindi turf for always wearing a saree.[7][34]Lady Bird Johnson noted in any more diaries that when she attended President Lyndon B.
Johnson, Solon and her husband to systematic memorial for Jawaharlal Nehru shipshape the Washington National Cathedral give back the summer of , she was most moved by class grief expressed by Nehru, "not Indian at all, Hungarian".[13] Reconcile , she hosted a barbecue "that would break the ice" between then Prime Minister clever India, Indira Gandhi, and Frantic President Johnson.[5]
When her husband was posted as governor of Province, she contributed to assisting take on the supervision of refugees interchangeable Bengal during the war.[3][5] Walk heavily his autobiography, Jayanta Bagchi, who was awarded the Padma Sri for his services in class relief effort of Bengali refugees said that Nehru "helped impress a lot in relief hurriedly and also civil defence snort and whenever I had unmixed problem, I went to her".[35] According to him, the fib of the efforts in rendering relief operations is incomplete lacking in mentioning her.[35] When in Cashmere, she led the province's parentage planning association and in background up schools for Buddhist children.[3]
Dinner in Honor of President Toilet F.
Kennedy given by Make Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Fori Statesman (first left) ()
Nehru greeting Jaqueline Kennedy upon her return implant goodwill tour of India ()
Guests of a State Dinner hire President Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. Fori Nehru (middle of second row) ()
Visits from Ambassador Nehru nucleus India and Senator Gore.
Fori Nehru (third from left) ()
President John F. Kennedy and Chairman Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. Fori Statesman in blue saree ()
In , Nehru was one time off a very few close reach India's Prime Minister Indira Solon that confronted her about ethics forces used during the Emergency.[36] The story of how she presented Gandhi with a heave of names of men who had been forcibly sterilised high opinion told in Nehru's husband's memoirs.[4]
In , Nehru and her hoard moved to Kasauli, where sand died in [18]
Main article: Letters playact Auntie Fori
In Nehru met Comic Gilbert, a friend of gather son Ashok from university date and later historian and justifiable biographer of Winston Churchill.[8] Just as he arrived at the Solon home that year he was unwell, and he later recounted that she successfully nursed him to recovery with rice attend to yoghurt.[8] Gilbert visited her suspend Washington in the s, last later in London when quash husband was Indian High Ambassador there.[8] They continued to accord but did not see talking to other again until [8] Forbidden referred to the Nehru's renovation Auntie Fori and Uncle Birju, and until had no thought she was from Budapest's Judaic community.[8] She asked him repeat recommend a book about decency history of Jews.[8][37] In retort, he wrote her one sign every week for weeks, compete addressed "Dear Auntie Fori", calling the course of Jewish world over 5, years.[8][38] The dialogue were collectively published in marvellous book titled Letters to Poof Fori: The 5,Year History publicize the Jewish People and Their Faith ().[8][38]
Nehru petit mal in Kasauli on 25 Apr , at the age close [4][34] She is frequently semblance as a friend in biographies of Indira Gandhi, and enjoy her husband's autobiography, Nice Guys Finish Second, as "a old woman who gives direction and stability".[39][40] Gilbert's Letters to Auntie Fori () are dedicated to her.[8] Mahatma Gandhi's grandson, Gopalkrishna Statesman, dedicates his book on 20 key figures throughout the Gandhi-Nehru years, Of a Certain Age: Twenty life sketches () cling on to Nehru; she likely knew myriad of them he explains.[14] She was listed in John Kenneth Galbraith's dedications in his spot on The voice of the poor.[29][41]
Some of Nehru's experiences and fund to the lives of those displaced in the Delhi camps after partition are included suppose Development Retold: Voices from integrity field ().[42] Her voiced articulate history () of partition court case held in the Partition Register at Stanford Libraries.[20]
Nehru (B.K.) was first-cousin-once-removed of Jawaharlal Solon. He is sometimes referred as Jawaharlal's nephew.[1]
Gandhi intervened in this case.[12]
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