Mirabehn

Madeleine Slade (Mirabehn) (November 22, 1892 – July 20, 1982), daughter of the British Rear-Admiral Sir Edmond Slade, was a British woman who left her home in England to live and work with Mohandas Gandhi, the leader of the Indian independence movement. She devoted her life to human development, the advancement of Gandhi's principles and the freedom struggle in India. In doing so, Gandhi gave her the name, Mirabehn, after Meera Bai, the great devotee of Lord Krishna.

Mirabehn during her stay in India once went to Gurukul Kangri to learn Hindi. Thereafter she went to Bhagwat Bhakti Ashram of Rewari established by Swami Parmanand Maharaj in order to be blessed by him. She also wrote to Mahatma Gandhi about her experiences there in Bhagwat Bhakti Ashram.

She was awarded India's second highest civilian honour, the Padma Vibhushan in 1982.

Actress Geraldine James portrayed her in Sir Richard Attenborough's film, Gandhi, which premiered several months after Madeleine Slade's death in 1982.

Bibliography

• Spirits Pilgrimage, by Mirabehn. Great River Books. 1984. ISBN 0915556138.
• New and old gleanings, by Mirabehn. Navajivan Pub. House. 1964.

Gallery

• 

  With Gandhi at Darwen.

• 

  With Gandhi at the Greenfield mill, at Darwen in England

See also

• Gandhism

References

• Letters to Mirabehn, by Mahatma Gandhi. # Greenleaf Books. 1983. ISBN 0934676534.

External links

• Biography from mkgandhi.org
• In the company of Bapu: In the just-released Mira & the Mahatma, psychoanalyst Sudhir Kakar delves into the complex relationship between a remarkable Englishwoman and the man she worshiped - The Telegraph
• Video interview with Mirabehn