Ela Bhatt

Key facts

Born

7 September 1933, Ahmedabad

Died

2 November 2022, Ahmedabad

State of birth

Ahmedabad, Gujarat

Sector

Politics & governance

Profession

Founder of the Self-Employed Women's Association of India (SEWA)

Gender

Female

Biography

Ela Ramesh Bhatt was an Indian cooperative organiser, activist and Gandhian, who founded the Self-Employed Women's Association of India (SEWA) in 1972, and served as its general secretary from 1972 to 1996. She was the chancellor of the Gujarat Vidyapith from 7 March 2015 to 19 October 2022. A lawyer by training, Bhatt was a part of the international labour, cooperative, women, and micro-finance movements and won several national and international awards, including the Ramon Magsaysay Award (1977), Right Livelihood Award (1984) for "helping home-based producers to organise for their welfare and self-respect" and the Padma Bhushan (1986).

Summary based on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), reviewed by the RochakDuniya editorial team.

Timeline

1. 1933Born in Ahmedabad
2. 1977Awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award
3. 1984Awarded the Right Livelihood Award
4. 1985Awarded the Padma Shri in social work
5. 1986Awarded the Padma Bhushan
6. 2001Awarded the honorary doctor of Harvard University
7. 2006Awarded the Officer of the Legion of Honour
8. 2010Awarded the Niwano Peace Prize
9. 2011Awarded the Indira Gandhi Peace Prize
10. 2011Awarded the Radcliffe Medal
11. 2012Awarded the Four Freedoms Award – Freedom from Want
12. 2012Awarded the honorary doctor of the Université libre de Bruxelles
13. 2022Dies in Ahmedabad