Dhondo Keshav Karve

Dhondo Keshav Karve was an eminent Indian social reformer and educator who championed the cause of women education and remarriage of Hindu widows. He was popularly called 'Maharshi' which means 'a great sage'.

Hence, to enable their upliftment, he established the Widow Marriage Association in 1893 and set a noble example for others by marrying a widow himself, following the death of his first wife.

He also established an educational institution called Hindu Widows Home in Pune to help widows become self-sufficient if they failed to remarry. Literacy of women was one of his primary concerns and hence, he established the Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey Women's University, the first university for women in India.

Dhondo Keshav Karve was born on 18 April 1858, at Sheravali, Maharashtra in a lower middle-class Brahmin family. His father's name was Keshav Bapunna Karve.