Gail Omvedt
Born in Minneapolis, USA, Gail Omvedt is an Indian citizen. She has an MA and Ph.D in sociology from the University of California, Berkeley. She has been living in India since 1978, settled in Kasegaon Village in southern Maharashtra, with her husband, Bharat Patankar, and other members of an Indian joint family. She worked as a Senior Fellow at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi. She died at the age of 80, on 25 August 2021.

Among her numerous books focusing on social and economic issues are Buddhism in India: Challenging Brahmanism and Caste (2003), Dalit Visions (1995), Dalits and the Democratic Revolution (1994), Reinventing Revolution: New Social Movements and the Socialist Tradition in India (1993) and Cultural Revolt in a Colonial Society: The Non- Brahman Movement in Maharashtra (1966). She has also collaborated with Bharat Patnakar in translations from the Marathi into English.