Mahatma Gandhi
1869–1948 · Indian (Porbandar / South Africa / India) · Indian Independence Movement
Known for: Led India's independence through nonviolent civil disobedience—'Father of the Nation'
Gandhi developed satyagraha (truth-force/nonviolent resistance) in South Africa, then applied it to free India from British rule. He led the Salt March, Quit India movement, and countless acts of civil disobedience that made the British Empire morally untenable.
He was ascetic—spinning cloth, fasting as protest, living in ashrams—and believed in radical simplicity. He was assassinated by a Hindu nationalist in 1948, shortly after independence and the traumatic Partition of India and Pakistan.
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