Nandini Satpathy

Nandini Satpathy (Odia: ନନ୍ଦିନୀ ଶତପଥି; 9 June 1931 – 4 August 2006) was an Indian politician and author. She was the Chief Minister of Odisha from June 1972 to December 1976.

Early life

Satpathy was born on 9 June 1931 and grew up in Pithapur, Cuttack, India. She was the eldest daughter of Kalindi Charan Panigrahi; Satpathy's uncle Bhagavati Charan Panigrahi founded the Odisha branch of the Communist Party of India.

Political career

While at Ravenshaw College pursuing her Master of Arts in Odia, she became involved with the Communist Party's student wing, the Student Federation. In 1951, a student protest movement began in Odisha; it demonstrated against rising college education costs, which later became a national youth movement. Satpathy was a leader in this movement, and a police lathi charge was used against one protest she was in. She was jailed, like many others; while there, she met Devendra Satpathy, another Student Federation member and the man whom she later married. (He was later elected for two terms as the lower house member of parliament from Dhenkanal.