The first Indian woman to hold a cabinet post, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit was the sister of Jawaharlal Nehru, the aunt of Indira Gandhi and the grand-aunt of Rajiv Gandhi, each of whom served as Prime Minister of India.
Following India’s independence from the British in 1947 she entered the diplomatic service and served as India’s ambassador to Ireland, Mexico, the Soviet Union, Spain, the United Kingdom, United States and the United Nations. In 1953, she became the first woman President of the United Nations General Assembly. In 1979, she was appointed the Indian representative to the UN Human Rights Commission, after which she retired from public life.
She was the author of The Evolution of India (1958), Women Saints of East and West (1972), and The Scope of Happiness: A Personal Memoir (1979).
Pandit lived in Washington from 1949 to 1951 as Indian Ambassador to the United States.
The Homes
2700 Macomb St NW, Washington, DC (The Homestead)
Also known as La Quinta, The Homestead was the last major architect-designed country house built in the then-suburb of Cleveland Park. In 1930, the house was enlarged and refurbished as a Georgian-style mansion. In 1945, the government of India purchased it as an Ambassadorial residence.
Also home to: Triloki Nath Kaul
Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
2700 Macomb St NW
Located in Cleveland Park neighborhood, Northwest- West of Rock Creek