Pune12मराठी

People of Pune

Only what the sources say, and for each person, how they are tied to Pune.

Savitribai PhuleJyotirao PhuleMaharshi Dhondo Keshav KarvePandita RamabaiJustice Mahadev Govind RanadeLokmanya TilakGopal Krishna GokhalePandit Bhimsen JoshiP. L. Deshpande (Pu La)Vasantrao DeshpandeAnandibai JoshiJayant NarlikarVijay BhatkarDhanraj PillayCyrus S. Poonawalla

Reformers

Savitribai Phule

1831–1897

Educator, social reformer and poet, widely regarded as the first Indian woman teacher

  • Opened the first girls' school with Jyotirao Phule in 1848 at Bhide Wada
  • The University of Pune was renamed Savitribai Phule Pune University in 2015

Source 1

Jyotirao Phule

1827–1890

Anti-caste social reformer, writer and businessman

  • Started his first girls' school in Pune in 1848
  • Died in Pune in 1890

⚖️ His article names the first school's building as both Bhide Wada and Vishrambag Wada.

Source 1

Maharshi Dhondo Keshav Karve

1858–1962

Reformer for women's welfare; founded SNDT Women's University in 1916

  • Taught mathematics at Fergusson College, 1891–1914
  • Set up a home for widows at Hingne in 1896; Karve Nagar is named after him

Source 1

Pandita Ramabai

1858–1922

Social reformer and Christian missionary

  • Founded the Arya Mahila Samaj in Pune, and in 1889 Sharada Sadan, a school for child widows, later moved to Kedgaon as the Mukti Mission

Source 1

Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade

1842–1901

Scholar, social reformer and judge; a founder of the Indian National Congress

  • Became a judge in Pune in 1871; in 1885 helped start Huzurpaga girls' high school in Narayan Peth

Source 1

Freedom movement

Lokmanya Tilak

1856–1920

Nationalist leader of the independence movement, one of "Lal Bal Pal"

  • Co-founded the Deccan Education Society (1884), which founded Fergusson College (1885), where he taught mathematics

Source 1

Gopal Krishna Gokhale

1866–1915

Political leader and social reformer; Mahatma Gandhi's political guru

  • A major member of the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha; founded the Deccan Sabha in 1896

Source 1

Music and literature

Pandit Bhimsen Joshi

1922–2011

Hindustani classical vocalist, famous for khayal, bhajans and abhangs

  • Organised the Sawai Gandharva music festival in Pune from 1953
  • Died in Pune in 2011

Source 1

P. L. Deshpande (Pu La)

1919–2000

Marathi writer and humorist, and an actor, composer and singer

  • Studied at Fergusson College; helped establish Bal Gandharva Ranga Mandir; the P L Deshpande garden is named after him

Source 1

Vasantrao Deshpande

1920–1983

Hindustani classical vocalist, celebrated for Sangeet Natak

  • The Vasantotsav music festival is held in Pune every January in his memory

Source 1

Science and medicine

Anandibai Joshi

1865–1887

The first certified Indian woman doctor of western medicine

  • Died in Pune in 1887

Source 1

Jayant Narlikar

1938–2025

Astrophysicist known for work on alternative cosmology

  • Founding director of IUCAA in Pune from 1988

Source 1

Vijay Bhatkar

b. 1946

Computer scientist, architect of India's PARAM supercomputers

  • Helped form the International Institute of Information Technology (I2IT) in Pune

Source 1

Sport

Dhanraj Pillay

b. 1968

Former captain of the India national hockey team

  • Born in Khadki, Pune

Source 1

Business

Cyrus S. Poonawalla

b. 1941

Founder of the Serum Institute of India

  • Born into a Pune-based Parsi family

Source 1

Draft: prepared from Wikipedia, not yet checked by a person. Where sources disagree you will see ⚖️. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.