Ujjwala Mhatre is a translator and social activist. Born into a Marathi-speaking family, she spent a large part of her working life in the Hindi heartland of India. She was a teacher and an academic supervisor in several schools in north India. After returning to Maharashtra, she was the head of a school in Mumbai, and she continues to be part of movements for the rights of women, Dalits, peasants and workers. Her translations include:
– ‘Knapsack of the farmers’ (‘Shetakaryanchi Shidori’, by Gail Omvedt, from Marathi to English, published by SNDT University, Mumbai);
– ‘1857 chya Ladhyababat Nehru ani Azad yanche vichaar’ (‘Speeches by Nehru and Azad on the 1857 Revolt’ from English to Marathi, published by National Book Trust, 2009);
– ‘Water, Water Everywhere – A Story by Meghna Pethe’ (Marathi to English, published by HarperCollins, Delhi);
– ‘Poems of Savitribai Phule – Kavyaphule’ (Marathi to English, published by Dr Ambedkar College of Commerce and Economics, Mumbai, 2012);
– ‘Brahmanvad ki Aad Mein Gulamgiri’ (Marathi to Hindi, published by Forward Press, Delhi, 2021); and,
– ‘Savitrinama: Savitribai Phule ka Samagra Sahityakarm’ (Marathi to Hindi, Forward Press, 2023).
Her translation of Mahatma Phule’s Gulamgiri, which is considered the most faithful of all currently-available translations of the book, will be published by Pippa Rann Books in 2025.