Who was Leela Dube, the renowned anthropologist and feminist scholar fondly called as Leeladee?
This feminist scholar is known for her work on kinship in women’s studies. Leela Dube’s work studied the relationship between members of the same family from a feminist perspective.
The work of an anthropologist is to study humanity as a whole and to examine physical and cultural aspects of past and present societies. As one of the first few female anthropologists of the country, Leela Dube’s work, like Matriliny and Islam or Women and Kinship in South East Asia, is useful in understanding the location of a woman inside her personal and public arena.
Her work also helps understand economics, sociology, geography, governance, and social work together from a feminine lens.
Leela was born in a Marathi Brahminical family, which was fairly modern. She grew up with four siblings, with her mother constantly highlighting the importance of cooking and caring skills in the lives of her daughters.
She was married while doing her masters in political science at Nagpur University to another anthropologist, who helped Leela understand the subject better.
With unlimited access to the library and documents, Leela went on to pioneer women’s studies and anthropology. Her achievements include the submission towards an equality report in 1974, a lifetime achievement award from the Indian Sociological Society and becoming a member or chairperson of various committees working towards women’s upliftment.
