President Pranab Mukherjee's wife, who was critically ill, passed away today. The President's office tweeted: "It is informed with deep sorrow that First Lady, Mrs Suvra Mukherjee passed away this morning at 10:51 am."


Mrs Mukherjee died from a respiratory ailment at the army hospital in New Delhi.


This is the Rashtrapati Bhavan's profile on the First Lady.

"Suvra Mukherjee was born on September 17, 1940 in Jessore (now in Bangladesh) and married Shri Pranab Mukherjee on July 13, 1957.
A graduate, Smt. Suvra Mukherjee was an ardent fan of India's national poet, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. She was a vocalist of Rabindra Sangeet and performed in the poet's dance-dramas for long years not only in different parts of India, but also in Europe, Asia and Africa.

Smt. Suvra Mukherjee founded the 'Geetanjali Troupe', whose mission is to propagate Rabindranath Tagore's philosophy as expressed through his songs and dance-dramas. She was the guiding force behind all productions of the Troupe.

Smt. Mukherjee was also a highly talented painter who had many group and solo exhibitions to her credit. She considered her mother who was herself a painter as the source of her creative inspiration and her works won critical acclaim.

Smt. Mukherjee has written two books: Chokher Aloey which is a personal account of her close interaction with Smt. Indira Gandhi and Chena Achenai Chin- a travelogue recounting her visit to China.
Smt. Suvra Mukherjee and Shri Pranab Mukherjee have three children Shri Abhijit Mukherjee, Shri Indrajit Mukherjee and Ms. Sharmistha Mukherjee."