FullName=Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (widely known as Mahatma Gandhi); Profession=Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, political ethicist, social and political activist, and prolific writer who became the preeminent leader of the Indian independence movement against British rule and a global symbol of nonviolent resistance; Nationality=Indian; Born=2 October 1869; Birthplace=Porbandar, a coastal town in the former Kathiawar Agency of the British Raj, now in the state of Gujarat, India; Generation=Late 19th‑century colonial Indian generation and early 20th‑century independence and nonviolence generation, shaped by the high tide of the British Empire and the rise of mass nationalist movements in Asia and Africa, with Gandhi’s life spanning from 1869 to 1948 across the Victorian, Edwardian, and interwar eras and culminating in India’s mid‑20th‑century struggle for self‑rule; Chinese Zodiac=Snake (1869 is recorded in traditional Chinese calendars as a Year of the Snake, associating people born that year with qualities of wisdom, intensity, and mystery); ZodiacSign=Libra (the Western tropical zodiac places birthdays on October 2 within Libra, the air sign of balance, justice, and the scales); AgeIn2026=157 (theoretical age he would have reached in 2026 had he lived, calculated from 1869 to 2026); MaritalStatus=Married in an arranged child marriage to Kasturba Gandhi (born Kasturba Gokuldas or Makhanji Kapadia) in 1883 when he was about 13 and she about 14, remaining married to her until her death in detention in 1944, with their partnership evolving from a conventional domestic union into a shared life of political activism, spiritual discipline, and public service; Children=Four surviving sons—Harilal Gandhi (born 1888), Manilal Gandhi (born 1892), Ramdas Gandhi (born 1897), and Devdas Gandhi (born 1900)—who together formed the core of his immediate family line and continued aspects of his social and political legacy; Description=Gandhi, whose honorific “Mahatma” means “Great Soul,” is revered in India as the “Father of the Nation” for his leadership of the independence movement and his formulation of satyagraha, a philosophy and method of nonviolent resistance grounded in truth (satya), nonviolence (ahimsa), self‑discipline and willingness to suffer rather than inflict harm; trained as a barrister in London at the Inner Temple and called to the bar in 1891, he first made his mark in South Africa by organizing Indian communities against racial discrimination and oppressive colonial laws, using boycotts, civil disobedience and moral persuasion; returning to India, he became the central figure of the Indian National Congress’s mass politics, leading campaigns such as the Non‑Cooperation movement, the 1930 Salt March against the salt tax, and the Quit India movement of 1942, which mobilized millions in nonviolent defiance and dramatically weakened the legitimacy of British imperial rule; personally, he adopted a life of simplicity and asceticism—wearing homespun khadi, promoting village industries and self‑reliance, practicing vegetarianism and periodic fasting, and experimenting with communal living and vows of celibacy and poverty—in order to align his public message with his private conduct and to stand in solidarity with India’s poorest; intellectually and spiritually, he synthesized influences from Hinduism, Jainism, Christianity and other traditions into a distinctive ethical vision that emphasized conscience, inner transformation, interfaith dialogue and the pursuit of social justice through nonviolent means, inspiring later civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. and numerous movements for freedom around the world; CauseOfDeath=Assassinated at age 78 on 30 January 1948 in the grounds of Birla House (now Gandhi Smriti) in New Delhi, when Hindu nationalist Nathuram Vinayak Godse stepped from a crowd during Gandhi’s walk to an evening multi‑faith prayer meeting and fired three bullets into his chest and stomach at point‑blank range; Gandhi was carried back to his room and died shortly thereafter, and Godse—who opposed Gandhi’s efforts for Hindu‑Muslim reconciliation and his perceived concessions to Pakistan—was later tried, convicted of murder, and executed by hanging in 1949.