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Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
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He was an Indian lawyer, politician and activist who founded the non-violence movement. Through peaceful resistance, he succeeded in stopping India from being a British colony and gaining independence in 1947.
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Gandhi was a mediocre student at porbandar. Later in Rajkot, in 1887, he just passed the Mumbai university entrance exam, enrolling in the school of samaldas.
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He returned to India in 1891, but was not very successful professionally and soon accepted a job as a lawyer in South Africa. There he lived for 21 years. When the contract ran out, Gandhi decided to stay to defend the rights of the Hindu community residing in that country.
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With the experience he had acquired in South Africa, he returned to India in 1915 to become the leader of the independence movement in his country. At that time India was a colony in the service of Great Britain. His fame spread throughout India and he became president of the Indian National Congress. The British authorities arrested him in March 1922 and two years later, upon his release from prison, the unity between Muslims and Hindus was found to have disappeared.
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Disappointed, he decided to leave politics. His retirement ended in 1927 when the British government wanted to reform the constitution without the participation of any native Indians. Gandhi got all the parties in the country to oppose it and encouraged the congress to declare the independence of India. He traveled to London to negotiate the steps to follow to establish a constitutional government, but did not achieve the expected results.
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World War II was the final straw when Britain forced India to participate. Gandhi declared that his country could not do it and demanded complete independence from India. He was arrested again and was not released until 1944 when he was already a frail old man.
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He played a key role in the negotiations that led to independence in 1947 and tried to reform society. However, he could not prevent the struggle between Hindus and Muslims and that his country was separated into two: India and Pakistan.
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In January 1948 he was assassinated by a Hindu fanatic who opposed his idea of respect for all religions. Gandhi was then 78 years old and his ashes were thrown into the holy Ganges River.
