Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru

This is a project of national importance and fulfils one of the major objectives of the Fund. If everything that Jawaharlal Nehru said and wrote were to be published, the number of volumes might well exceed a hundred and would take long years to complete. Therefore the Fund favoured the publication of a careful selection of the most important of Jawaharlal Nehru’s writings, letters and speeches in a series of volumes. Dr S. Gopal was the first General Editor of this project.

The collection of material of the pre-independence period has been greatly facilitated by the methodical manner in which Jawaharlal Nehru, despite his unsettled life, maintained his papers with a keen sense of history. This personal collection of papers which was deposited by Shrimati Indira Gandhi to the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library has been the most important source of material. Subsequently she transferred more papers including Jawaharlal Nehru’s jail diaries which are invaluable to a historian. 

Important records available with government and private collections including those available with Indian Missions abroad were accessed while collecting material. The material that comes into our possession is being made over to the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library which is the national repository of all material on Jawaharlal Nehru.

The first series covering the period up to the formation of Interim Government in 1946, appeared in 15 volumes. Another 70 volumes covering the period from independence to July-August 1961 have also been published.  It is expected that the series will require another 20 volumes to cover the remaining years till his death in May 1964, and is likely to be completed by beginning of 2018.

Man of Destiny

The Fund had commissioned Shri Ruskin Bond to write a biography of Jawaharlal Nehru for young students. This has been published under the title ‘Man of Destiny’. Its Hindi version has also been brought out titled ‘Yug Purush Nehru’.

Nehru Anthology

An Anthology containing selections from Jawaharlal Nehru edited by Dr S. Gopal has been published by Oxford University Press in 1980.

Nehru Album

A definitive album which contains a biography of Jawaharlal Nehru in pictures, from the time of his birth till his death with text and captions was published by the Fund in 1983. It was got printed at Vakil & Sons, Bombay. It is priced at Rs 500 per copy. Hindi edition of the Album is also available.

Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Lectures

One of the important activities of the Fund is to organize an annual Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Lecture. These lectures have been published by the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mumbai, in two volumes and is priced at Rs 400 per volume.