'There must have existed an ancestor (or was it perhaps an ancestress!) who loved a fight, and this fighting blood has been transmitted to me.' Our #PortraitOfTheDay captures the Indian politician Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit. 📸 by Bern Schwartz, 1978 © NPG, London

As Women's History Month winds down, we're spotlighting 5 women that changed the UN.  Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit was a leader in India's independence movement, imprisoned three times by the British.

1958. My grandparents + father arrive in Belfast. My grandfather, Lt Cdr RB Subramanian, was a naval architect who oversaw the refit & modernization of INS Vikrant acquired by India in 57 & commissioned by Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit in 61. INS Vikrant was instrumental in 1971 war!

Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit (1900 – 1990) was an Indian freedom fighter, diplomat and politician. She served as the 8th President of the United Nations General Assembly from 1953 to 1954, the first woman and the only Indian to have been appointed to this post. #quoteoftheday

Let's honour women who break barriers & lead on global stages. We have our own to remember, get inspired by: Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, 1st women Ambassador. C B Muthamma, 1st women to join IFS. Vidisha Maitra, elected 2UN advisory council...etc #InternationalDayOfWomenInDiplomacy

Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, Hansa Mehta, C.B. Muthamma, Arundhati Ghose, and Chokila Iyer didn’t just enter male-dominated diplomacy—they transformed it. Read the blog here - bit.ly/467lDHh

Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit with the 1959 Indian team in England. She could have been the Indian High Commissioner to the UK in this particular year. Pic courtesy: Berry Sarbadhikary’s My World of Cricket

💡80 fast facts as the UN turns 80! Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit was elected the 8th President of the General Assembly in 1953. She was the first woman to be elected to the role & remains the only Indian person to be appointed to the position Watch ▶️ youtube.com/watch?v=rmfUAQ… #UN80

From leading protests to leading the nation, drafting laws to framing budgets women have shaped India’s freedom & future. This #IndependenceDay, we honour Sarojini Naidu,Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, Indira Gandhi, Ela Bhatt #AzadiForHer #WomenInPolicy

On Vijay Lakshmi Pandit's birth anniversary, #NAI presents a rare glimpse of her Certificate of Assumption of Charge (with her signature) as India's Ambassador to the U.S.A. -MEA, Establishment-II, 1948, Fn. No. 33(50)-E-II/48 #VijayLakshmiPandit #MainBharatHoon

Read. This. Book.

This is really cool. Check this out.

#TheRemarkableMadamePandit spotted in the window of Harvard Book Store! Rollout begins today!! #newbookalert #booksbooksbooks #booksellers #windowshopping #VLP #biography #nonfiction #history #womenshistory #VijayaLakshmiPandit

So cool to see #TheRemarkableMadamePandit in the ‘wild’! #bookshopping #newbooksmell #justbought

Now available! THE REMARKABLE MADAME PANDIT is the definitive biography of India’s greatest modern diplomat. buff.ly/VLUdGFg #VLP #India #Diplomacy #InternationalAffairs #Biography #WomensHistoryMonth #Pioneer #UnitedNations #Peace #FreedomFighter #Democracy Manu Bhagavan

Lovely event last night at Hunter College to launch the global edition of Manu Bhagavan’s REMARKABLE MADAME PANDIT, the definitive biography of pioneering Indian diplomat Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit. Out now with Columbia University Press!

A figure to be celebrated. Recommend Manu Bhagavan recent biography.

As the #unga gets underway& the @un grapples with a changing world, now is a useful time to reflect on the ideas and contributions of Mme Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, the first woman president of United NationsGABloxburg and top 20thc diplomat and visionary: youtu.be/YG0r_wmezcQ?si…

With this illuminating biography [and] Written in lucid prose with a scholar's unflinch-ing eye, this is a deeply affectionate portrait of a complex woman, and a masterful recreation of a thrilling period in history. -Kiran Desai, Booker Prize-winning author

Full page coverage of the launch of The Remarkable Madame Pandit in The Indian Panorama by Jay Mandal. #biography #booklaunch #nonfiction #history