Mahatma Gandhi Biography

Mahatma Gandhi was a prominent Indian political leader who campaigned for Indian independence. He employed non-violent principles and peaceful disobedience. He was assassinated in 1948, shortly after achieving his life goal of Indian independence. In India, he is known as ‘Father of the Nation’.

“When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it–always.”

– Gandhi

Short Bio Mahatma Gandhi

Mohandas Gandhi was born, 1869, in Porbandar, India. Mohandas was from the social cast of tradesmen. His mother was illiterate, but her common sense and religious devotion had a lasting impact on Gandhi’s character. As a youngster, Mohandas was a good student, but the shy young boy displayed no signs of leadership. On the death of his father, Mohandas travelled to England to gain a degree in law. He became involved with the Vegetarian society and was once asked to translate the Hindu Bhagavad Gita. This epic of Hindu literature awakened in Gandhi a sense of pride in the Indian scriptures, of which the Gita was the pearl.

Around this time, he also studied the Bible and was struck by the teachings of Jesus Christ – especially the emphasis on humility and forgiveness. He remained committed to the Bible and Bhagavad Gita throughout his life, though he was critical of aspects of both religions.

Gandhi in South Africa

On completing his degree in Law, Gandhi returned to India, where he was soon sent to South Africa to practise law. In South Africa, Gandhi was struck by the level of racial discrimination and injustice often experienced by Indians. It was in South Africa that Gandhi first experimented with campaigns of civil disobedience and protest; he called his non violent protests – satyagraha. Despite being imprisoned for short periods of time he also supported the British under certain conditions. He was decorated by the British for his efforts during the Boer war and Zulu rebellion.

Gandhi and Indian Independence

After 21 years in South Africa, Gandhi returned to India in 1915. He became the leader of the Indian nationalist movement campaigning for home rule or Swaraj.

Gandhi successfully instigated a series of non violent protest. This included national strikes for one or two days. The British sought to ban opposition, but the nature of non-violent protest and strikes made it difficult to counter.

Gandhi also encouraged his followers to practise inner discipline to get ready for independence. Gandhi said, the Indians had to prove they were deserving of independence. This is in contrast to independence leaders such as Aurobindo Ghose, who argued that Indian independence was not about whether India would offer better or worse government, but that it was the right for India to have self government.

Gandhi also clashed with others in the Indian independence movement such as Subhas Chandra Bose who advocated direct action to overthrow the British.

Gandhi frequently called off strikes and non-violent protest if he heard people were rioting or violence was involved.

In 1930, Gandhi led a famous march to the sea in protest at the new Salt Acts. In the sea they made their own salt – in violation of British regulations. Many hundreds were arrested and Indian jails were full of Indian independence followers.

However, whilst the campaign was at its peak some Indian protesters killed some British civilians, as a result Gandhi called off the independence movement saying that India was not ready. This broke the heart of many Indians committed to independence. It led to radicals like Bhagat Singh carrying on the campaign for independence, which was particularly strong in Bengal.

Gandhi and the Partition of India

After the war, Britain indicated that they would give India independence. However, with the support of the Muslims led by Jinnah, the British planned to partition India into two – India and Pakistan. Ideologically Gandhi was opposed to partition. He worked vigorously hard to show that Muslims and Hindus could live together peacefully. At his prayer meetings, Muslim prayers were read out along side Hindu and Christian prayers. However, Gandhi agreed to the partition and spent the day of Independence in prayer mourning the partition. Even Gandhi’s fasts and appeals were insufficient to prevent the wave of sectarian violence and killing that followed the partition.

Away from the politics of Indian independence Gandhi was harshly critical of the Hindu Caste system. In particular he inveighed against the ‘untouchable’ caste, who were treated abysmally by society. He launched many campaigns to change the status of the untouchables. Although his campaigns were met with much resistance, they did go along way to changing century old prejudices.

At the age of 78, Gandhi undertook another fast to try and prevent the sectarian killing. After 5 days, the leaders agreed to stop killing. But, ten days later, Gandhi was shot dead by a Hindu Brahmin opposed to Gandhi’s support for Muslims and the untouchables.

Gandhi and Religion

Gandhi was a seeker of the truth.

“In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in a clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness. Our life is a long and arduous quest after Truth.”

– Gandhi

Gandhi said his great aim in life was to have a vision of God. He sought to worship God and promote religious understanding. He sought inspiration from many different religions – Jainism, Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism and incorporate them into his own philosophy.

Citation : Pettinger, Tejvan. “Biography of Mahatma Gandhi “, Oxford,www.biographyonline.net 12th Jan. 2011

Abraham Lincoln Biography

“With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds…. “

– Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was born Feb 12, 1809, in Hardin Country, Kentucky. His family upbringing was modest; his parents from Virginia were neither wealthy or well known. At an early age, the young lincoln

Abraham lost his mother and his father moved away to Indiana. Abraham had to work hard splitting logs and other manual labour. But, he also had a thirst for knowledge and worked very hard to excel in his studies. This led him to become trained as a lawyer. He spent eight years working on the Illinois court circuit; his ambition, drive and capacity for hard work were evident to all around him. He also had a good sense of humour and was depreciating about his looks.

“If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?”

He married Mary Todd and had four children, although three died before reaching maturity.

As a lawyer, Abraham developed a great capacity for quick thinking and oratory. His interest in public issues encouraged him to stand for public office. In 1854 he was elected to the House of Representatives and he tried to gain nomination for the Senate in 1858. Although he lost this election, his debating skills caused him to become well known within the Republican party. In particular, during this campaign he gave one of his best remembered speeches.

A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become lawful in all the States, old as well as new — North as well as South.

In this House divided speech, Lincoln gave a prophetic utterance to the potential for slavery to divide the nation.

The reputation he gained on the campaign trail caused him to be elected as Republican nominee for President in 1860.

The election of Lincoln as President in 1861, sparked the South to succeed from the North. Southern independence sentiment had been growing for many years and the election of a president opposed to slavery was the final straw. However, Lincoln resolutely opposed the breakaway of the South and so this led to the American civil war. The civil war was much more costly than many people anticipated and at times Lincoln appeared to be losing the support of the general population. But, he managed to keep the Republican party together, stifling dissent by promoting the various Republican factions into the cabinet. Lincoln oversaw many of the military aspects of the war and promoted the general Ulysses S Grant to oversee the northern forces.

Initially the war was primarily about succession and the survival of the Union, but as the war progressed Lincoln increasingly made the issue of ending slavery paramount. To Lincoln, slavery was fundamentally wrong.

“Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.”

On January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued his memorable Emancipation Proclamation that declared the freedom of slaves within the Confederacy.

“… all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons,…” (Emancipation Proclamation)

Eventually, after four years of attrition, the Federal forces secured the surrender of the defeated south. Lincoln had saved the union and also brought to head the end of slavery.

Dedicating the ceremony at Gettysburg on November 19, 1863, Lincoln declared:

“that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain–that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom–and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Lincoln was tragically assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, an actor on, April 14, 1865. He is widely regarded as one of America’s most influential and important presidents. As well as saving the union, Lincoln was viewed as embodying the ideals of honesty and integrity.

Citation: Pettinger, Tejvan. (G+) “Abraham Lincoln Biography“, Oxford,www.biographyonline.net, 11th Feb, 2013

Lincoln – by David Herbert Donald

List of Top 100 Famous People:

A list of famous people, chosen mainly from the Nineteenth, Twentieth or Twenty First Century. This list includes famous actors, politicians, entrepreneurs, writers, artists and humanitarians.

Marilyn Monroe (1926 – 1962) American actress / singer / model.
Abraham Lincoln (1809 – 1865) US President during American civil war
Mother Teresa (1910 – 1997) Catholic missionary nun / charity worker
John F. Kennedy (1917 – 1963) US President
Martin Luther King (1929 – 1968) – American civil rights campaigner
Nelson Mandela (1918 – ) – South African President anti-apartheid campaigner.
Winston Churchill (1874- 1965) – British Prime Minister during WWII
Bill Gates (1955 – ) American businessman, founder of Microsoft
Muhammad Ali (1942 – ) American Boxer and civil rights campaigner.
Mahatma Gandhi (1869 – 1948) Leader of Indian independence.
Margaret Thatcher (1925 – ) British Prime Minister.
Charles de Gaulle (1890 – 1970) French resistance leader and President.
Christopher Columbus (1451 – 1506) – Italian explorer
George Orwell (1903 – 1950) British author of 1984, Animal farm
Charles Darwin (1809 – 1882) British scientist proposed theory of evolution.
Elvis Presley (1935 – 1977) American pop singer.
Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955) German scientist – theory of relativity.
Paul McCartney (1942 – ) British musician, member of Beatles.
Plato (423 BC – 348 BC) Greek philosopher
Queen Elizabeth II (1926 – ) British monarch since 1954.
Queen Victoria ( 1819 –1901) British Queen during Nineteenth Century
John M Keynes (1883 – 1946) British economist.
Mikhail Gorbachev (1931 – ) Russian President during end of Cold War.
Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964) Indian Prime Minister
Leonardo da Vinci (1452 – 1519) Italian, painter, scientist, polymath
Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) – French chemist and microbiologist.
Leo Tolstoy (1828 – 1910 ) – Russian author and philosopher.
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) – Spanish modern artists
Vincent Van Gogh (1853 – 1890) Dutch artist
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882 – 1945) – US President 1932 – 1945.
Pope John Paul II (1920 – 2005) Polish Pope.
Thomas Edison ( 1847 – 1931) – American inventor
Rosa Parks (1913 – 2005) – American civil rights activist
Aung San Suu Kyi (1945 – ) Burmese opposition leader.
Lyndon Johnson (1908 – 1973) – US President 1963-69
Ludwig Beethoven (1770 – 1827) – German composer
Oprah Winfrey (1954 – ) US media celebrity.
Indira Gandhi (1917 – 1984) – Third Prime Minister of India.
Eva Peron (1919 – 1952) – First Lady of Argentina
Benazir Bhutto (1953 – 2007) – Prime Minister of Pakistan
Desmond Tutu (1931 – ) South African Bishop and opponent of apartheid
Dalai Lama (1938 – ) Spiritual and political leader of Tibetans
Walt Disney (1901 – 1966) American film producer
Neil Armstrong (1930 – 2012) US Pilot , first person to land on moon.
Peter Sellers (1925 – 1980) British film actor and comedian
Barack Obama (1961- ) US President
Malcolm X (1925 – 1965) American Black nationalist leader
J.K.Rowling (1965 – ) British author of Harry Potter series.
Richard Branson (1950 – ) British entrepreneur founder of Virgin.
Pele (1940 – ) Brazilian footballer, considered greatest of 20th Century.
Angelina Jolie (1975 – ) Actress, director, humanitarian.
Jesse Owens (1913-1980) US track athlete won 4 golds at 1936 Olympics.
Ernest Hemingway (1899 – 1961) American author
John Lennon (1940 – 1980) British popstar and member of the Beatles.
Henry Ford (1863 – 1947) US Industrialist
Haile Selassie (1892 – 1975) head of state of Ethiopia
Joseph Stalin (1879 – 1953) Soviet leader from 1924-1953.
Lord Baden Powell (1857 – 1941) British Founder of scout movement
Michael Jordon (1963 – ) US Basketball star.
George Bush jnr (1946 – ) US President 2000-2008.
V.Lenin (1870-1924) – Leader of Russian Revolution 1917.
Ingrid Bergman (1915-1982) Swedish actress. Featured in Casablanca.
Fidel Castro (1926-) Cuban revolutionary leader.
Oscar Wilde (1854- 1900) Irish author, poet, playwright.
Coco Chanel (1883-1971) – French Fashion designer
Pope Francis (1936 – ) – First pope from the Americas.
Amelia Earhart (1897– 1937) – Female aviator
Adolf Hitler (1889 – 1945) – leader of Nazi Germany 1933-45.
Sting (1951 – ) British musician.
Mary Magdalene (4 BC – 40AD) – devotee of Jesus Christ
Alfred Hitchcock (1899 – 1980) – English / American film producer
Michael Jackson (1958 – 2009) – American Pop singer
Madonna (1958 – ) American Pop singer
Mata Hari (1876-1917) Dutch exotic dancer, executed as spy.
Cleopatra (69 -30 BC) Queen of Egypt.
Grace Kelly (1929-1982) American actress and later Princess of Monaco.
Steve Jobs (1955 – 2012) Key figure in Apple computers
Ronald Reagan (1911 – 2004) – US President (1981-1989).
Lionel Messi (1987- ) Argentinian footballer
Babe Ruth (1895 – 1948) American baseball player
Bob Geldof (1951 – ) – Irish musician, charity worker
Leon Trotsky (1879-1940) Russian Marxist revolutionary
Roger Federer (1981 – ) Swiss Tennis player
Sigmund Freud (1856 – 1939) Austrian psychoanalyst
Woodrow Wilson (1856 – 1924) US president.
Mao Zedong (1893-1976) Leader of Chinese Communist revolution
Katherine Hepburn (1907-2003) – American actress.
Audrey Hepburn (1929 – 1993) British actress and humanitarian.
David Beckham (1975 – ) English footballer
Tiger Woods (1975 – ) American golfer
Usain Bolt (1986 – ) – Jamaican athlete. Record holder at 100m and 200m
Carl Lewis (1961 – ) – US athlete and Olympian
Prince Charles (1948 – ) Heir to British throne
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (1929 – 1994) – American wife of JF Kennedy
C.S. Lewis (1898 – 1963) – British author
Billie Holiday (1915 – 1959) American jazz singer.
J.R.R. Tolkien (1892 – 1973) – British author of Lord of the Rings
Tom Cruise (1962 ) – American actor
Billie Jean King (1943 – ) – American tennis players and campaigner for equality.
Anne Frank (1929-1945) – Dutch Jewish author who died in Holocaust.

More famous people

Simon Bolivar (1783 – 1830) ‘Liberator’ of Latin America.
Marie Antoinette (1755 – 1793) French Queen, executed during the French revolution
Christiano Ronaldo – Portuguese footballer.
Emmeline Pankhurst (1858-1928) – English suffragette.
Emile Zatopek – Czech athlete
Lech Walesa – Polish leader of Solidarity movement
Julie Andrews – British singer
Florence Nightingale – British nurse
Marie Curie – Polish / French scientist
Stephen Hawking – British scientist
Tim Berners Lee (1955- ) English creator of World Wide Web
Lance Armstrong (1971- ) American cyclist.
Shakira – Colombian singer
Jon Stewart (1962 – ) – American comic and tv presenter New York.
Wright Brothers – Orville and Wilbur Wright who made first flight in 1903.
Roman Abramovich – Russian oligarch.
Rupert Murdoch – Media owner of News Corporation.
Al Gore – US presidential candidate and environmental campaigner
Sacha Baron Cohen (1971 – ) – English comedian
George Clooney (1961 – ) – American actor and political activist.
Paul Krugman – American Nobel Prize winning economist
Jimmy Wales – American creator of Wikipedia
Brad Pitt (1963 – ) Actor
Kylie Minogue – Australian singer and actress
Malala Yousafzai – (1997- ) Pakistani human rights activist.
Stephen King (1947 – ) Contemporary horror and fantasy writer.

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