Vina Mazumdar, pioneering scholar of women's studies in India, died on 30 May 2013 in New Delhi at the age of 86.
Vina Mazumdar died on 30 May 2013 in New Delhi, India, at the age of 86, after a lifetime dedicated to research, policy advocacy, and institution-building for women's rights and gender equality in South Asia.
At the time of her death, she was widely regarded as the doyenne of Indian women's studies, having founded and led the Centre for Women's Development Studies (CWDS) for decades. Her death was mourned across academic, activist, and policy circles in India, with tributes published in major national newspapers such as The Hindu and by organizations like Governance Now, recognizing her as a foundational figure whose 1974 report Towards Equality had reshaped the national conversation on gender justice.
Her passing marked the end of an era for the first generation of post-independence Indian feminist scholars who had bridged rigorous academic research with grassroots activism and government policy. Institutions she built, particularly CWDS, continued her legacy, training generations of scholars and activists in feminist research methodologies. Her intellectual and institutional legacy remains foundational to how gender is studied and addressed in Indian public policy today.