Legendary American journalist and social activist Gloria Steinem passed away on Wednesday, September 2, 2026 at the age of 92. Following the tragic news, her lesser known association with India came to light. The feminist icon had even attended India's premiere college, Miranda House, University of Delhi, for a year.
American feminist activist, Gloria Steinem, spent two whole years in India during her younger years, long before she became a leading voice and leader of second-wave feminism in the United States.
During her time in India in the 1950s, Gloria learnt to wear the saree and even visited villages in Tamil Nadu with people involved in Vinoba Bhave’s Bhoodan movement. In 1960, she studied at India's leading women's college, Miranda House having received the Chester Bowles Asian Fellowship.
Gloria had chronicled her experiences in India in her book, My Life on the Road which was originally published in 2015. She wrote about her year spent in Miranda House and recalled, "They taught me to wear saris and were generally more instructive about India than was the curriculum, which was still shaped by the English system".
A picture of Gloria Steinem wearing a saree in New Delhi has now gone viral in social media, as more people come to know about her tryst with a country she claimed to have learnt a lot from.
After her passing, Miranda House released a statement on behalf of the college, mourning Gloria's death. "Miranda House, mourns the passing of Gloria Steinem, the pioneering American feminist, journalist, author and co-founder of Ms. Magazine, and one of the most influential voices of the global women's movement", the statement began.
Detailing the activist's connection with the college, the statement continued, "Gloria Steinem's association with Miranda House began during her formative years. She came to India as a Chester Bowles Asian Fellowship student and spent a year at Miranda House in 1960. Her experience in India and her time at the College left a lasting impression on her worldview and her subsequent journey as a feminist and social activist."
"Her association with Miranda House continued long after her student days. She visited the College twice, reconnecting with the institution and the memories that had shaped an important chapter of her life. Her enduring friendship with Devaki Jain, eminent economist, feminist thinker and Miranda House alumna, further strengthened her connection with India", it added. To mark Gloria Steinem's 90th birthday, the college's Policy Centre and Gender Lab had started the Gloria Steinem Travel Grant Award.
Gloria witnessed inequality, poverty, caste and class oppression during her travels in India as a result of her association with associated with MN Roy’s Radical Humanists. The pioneer of feminism had visited India later in life. She has very categorically acknowledged the influence that Gandhian principles and the role of Indian women in the Independence movement, had on her.
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