Motilal Nehru

Motilal Nehru Biography

Motilal Nehru was a lawyer and a prominent politician belonging to Indian national congress who served as the Congress President twice, 1919–1920 and 1928–1929. He was the cofounder of India's Swaraj Party. He was also the founder patriarch of the famous political family – Nehru family, which later accepted the sir name Gandhi, following the marriage of Priyadarshini Nehru with Feroz Gandhi. Motilal is the father of prominent Congress leader, freedom fighter and independent India’s first Prime Minister – Jawaharlal Nehru and later his family continued Indian rule till Rajiv Gandhi remained in the power till 1989. Later the baton of Indian National Congress was carried forward through many members of his family including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, though none of them have ruled the country later. Still now Nehru family is the prominent power of Indian Congress Party.

Nehru was born on 6 May 1861 in Agra as the son of Gangadhar Nehru and Jeevarani. His father passed away three months before his birth. His ancestors hail from Delhi. He had two elder brothers - Bansidhar Nehru and Nandlal Nehru. In the upheaval of 1857 the family lost all their assets and later the family was supported by Nandlal. Motilal’s childhood days were spent in Khetri of princely state Jaipur. Family shifted to Allahabad and Motilal passed the matriculation examination from Kanpur. He passed the lawyer examination in 1883 and started practising as a lawyer in Kanpur. His brother Nandlal died and Motilal supported the whole family including the 7 children of his elder brother.

Very soon he established himself as an able lawyer of his period and became financially strong as well. In 1900 he brought a new home, renovated it and named Anand Bhavan. He was influenced by the thoughts of Gandhi and he gave up his western style of living and dressing and became a prominent member of Indian National Congress. He passed away on 6 February 1931 before handling his position in Indian National Congress to his son, Jawaharlal Nehru.

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Updated: July 17, 2014