The Dancer Who Got India's Animal Cruelty Law Passed

Rukmini Devi Arundale was born on a leap day in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, on February 29, 1904. She is best remembered for reviving Bharatanatyam and founding the Kalakshetra academy in 1936, but she also became the first Indian woman nominated to the Rajya Sabha, serving from 1952 to 1962. In that seat she worked to pass the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act of 1960, then built the body that would enforce its spirit: the Animal Welfare Board of India, which she chaired from 1962 until she died in 1986. For three decades she was also vice-president of the International Vegetarian Union, carrying the animal cause from Parliament House to a global stage and back.