Eleanor Zelliot

Eleanor Zelliot
Born	October 7, 1926
Died	June 5, 2016
Nationality	American
Occupation(s)	Historian, Professor
Known for	Specialization in the History of India, Southeast Asia, Vietnam, and the Ambedkar Movement

Eleanor Zelliot (October 7, 1926 – June 5, 2016) was an American writer, professor of Carleton College^[1][2] and specialist on the India, Southeast Asia, Vietnam, women of Asia, Untouchables, and social movements.^[3][4][5]

Zelliot wrote over eighty articles and edited three books on the movement among Untouchables in India led by B. R. Ambedkar, on saint-poets of the medieval period, and on the Ambedkar-inspired Buddhist movement. She was one of the most prominent writers on Dalits of India.^[6] Eleanor Zelliot was an Ambedkarite thinker, and she has done scholarly writing on the Ambedkarite movement in India.^{[7][8][9][10][11][12]}

She completed her doctoral studies at the University of Pennsylvania in 1969, becoming the first scholar to complete a doctoral thesis on Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, a key figure in the Untouchable Movement in India.^[1][2] Zelliot's meticulous scholarship extended to the study of Bhakti saints, women saint-poets, untouchable saints, and Marathi Dalit literature. Her significant contributions include the translation of Marathi Dalit poetry in collaboration with writers like Mulk Raj Anand. Zelliot's translations, such as Keshav Meshram's "One Day I Cursed That Mother-F****r God" and Namdeo Dhasal’s powerful poems, provided a poignant insight into Dalit perspectives.^[7][8][9]

Zelliot died at the age of 89 on June 5, 2016, in Minnesota.^[13][14]