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NIVEDITA, SISTER (1867-1911). Born Margaret Elizabeth Noble in northern Ireland and brought up in the Wesleyan Christian Church there, she started a school in 1892 in Wimbledon and then became acquainted with the teachings of Swami Vivekanandaa. Margaret Noble went to Calcuttaa in 1898, was inhibited into the newly formed Ramakrishna Mission, and renamed Nivedita by Vivekananda. She opened a girls school in Calcutta, engaged in relief work during a plague epidemic, and helped to raise funds abroad.
From 1902 to the time of her death, Sister Nivedita wrote taught lectured about India, raising consciousness in the West as well as among Indians. She was critical of British policy and supportive of national education for Indians and the Swadeshi movement. She encouraged Indian artists and was friendly with leaders of various persuasions in the emerging national movement. With her strikingly good looks, her intense spirituality, her self-effacing austere life serving others, and her strong views, Sister Nivedita made a forceful impression on English and lndians alike.
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