Background
Shridharani was born in Umrala near Bhavnagar on 16 September 1911.
Shridharani was born in Umrala near Bhavnagar on 16 September 1911.
He studied sociology, economics and journalism at various institutions in India and the United States. He completed his primary education in Umrala and secondary education from Dakshinamurti Vinay Mandir, Bhavnagar. He joined Shantiniketan (Visva-Bharati University) in 1931 and completed his graduation in 1933. He completed Masters in Sociology and Economics from New York University in 1935.
He participated in the Indian independence movement and was imprisoned, during which time he started writing plays and poetry. He also wrote many non-fiction books in English. He spent his childhood in Junagadh.
He joined Gujarat Vidyapith in 1929 and participated as a young man in the Dandi March of 1930.
He was arrested near Karadi when he was going for Dharasana Satyagraha. He spent some time in Sabarmati and Nasik jails.
In 1934, he went to United States for further studies on the advice of James Pratt and Rabindranath Tagore, which made a lasting impression on his attitude. He completed Mississippi in 1936 and Doctor of Philosophy in 1940 from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
He started writing for Amrita Bazar Patrika in 1945 and returned to India in 1946.
He worked with the Ministry of External Affairs for some time. He presided over the history and economics department of Gujarati Sahitya Parishad in 1946. He died following heart attack in Delhi on 23 July 1960.
His book which analyses Gandhian philosophy and tactics of nonviolence, War Without Violence (1939) influenced the members and strategies of Congress of Racial Equality, and was widely circulated by African-American leaders during the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. lieutenant was studied by Martin Luther King, Junior. during the Montgomery bus boycott.