Rajni Kumar

Kumar was born Nancie Joyce Margaret Jones on 5 March 1923 in London, United Kingdom.^[1] She graduated from the London School of Economics in 1941,^[2] married a fellow student, Yudhishter Kumar, at the age of 23, moved to India and took up the Indian name Rajni.^[1][3]

In 1950, she joined a local school, Salwan Girls School, as its Principal and worked there until 1955.^[2] During this period, she joined the National Federation of Indian Women in 1953 as one of its founder members.^[1] In 1955, Kumar started her own school, Springdales School, as a kindergarten in the living room of her house.^[2][4] The institution has, over the years, grown to four schools in India and one in Dubai and is reported to have over 6000 students in its rolls.^[2]

Kumar was the chairperson of the Lady Irwin College^[2] and vice president of National Bal Bhavan.^[1] She took part in the Global Peace Conferences in Geneva and the World Congress for the Rights of Children in Moscow. After her retirement in 1988,^[1] Kumar was involved with the Springdales Education Society as its chairperson. She was also associated with the Delhi Schools Literacy Project, an initiative under the National Literacy Mission.^[1][2]

Kumar was felicitated by the Government of South Africa on the International Women's Day in 2005.^[1] A recipient of the Gr8! Women Award, Kumar was honoured by the Government of India in 2011 with the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri.^[2][5] In 2012, she was awarded the Order of the Companions of O. R. Tambo (Silver) by the Government of South Africa.^[6]

Kumar died on 10 November 2022, at the age of 99.^[7][8][9]

• Kumar, Rajni (2019). Against the wind : a life's journey. Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. ISBN 978-93-5357-132-0. OCLC 1130900621.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)