SAVITRIBAI PHULE: PIONEER OF WOMEN EDUCATION AND SOCIAL REFORM

Savitribai Phule was a prominent social reformer and leading character who played an important role in women education and empowerment during 19th century in India. She was not only a social reformer but also a teacher, an educationist and a poet. Savitribai Phule with her husband Jyotirao Phule established a girls’ school with nine students in 1848 at Pune in Bhide Wada and she was the first lady teacher of first girls’ school in India. She was a power source of women education and women empowerment and also raised voice against the practice of child marriage, and Sati Pratha for the improvement of society. At this time, she also advocated for widow remarriage. She is regarded as an icon of Dalit Mang caste along with Dr. B R Ambedkar and was a leading figure in Maharashtra’s social reform movement. She actively participated in campaigns to abolish caste, and gender based discrimination and untouchability. KEYWORDS: Savitribai Phule, women education, social reformer, educationist, Dalit education.