Suvra Mukherjee, wife of Indian President Pranab Mukherjee, died yesterday at 10:51am, Rashtrapati Bhavan announced.
She died at the age of 74.
The couple had been married for 58 years and had three children – Abhijit Mukherjee, Indrajit Mukherjee and Sharmistha Mukherjee.
A Rashtrapati Bhavan statement said: “It is informed with deep sorrow that First Lady Smt Suvra Mukherjee passed away this morning (August 18, 2015).”
President Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and several cabinet ministers condoled her death and prayed for eternal peace of the departed soul and conveyed their sympathies to members of the bereaved family.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to attend the funeral of Suvra Mukherjee today in New Delhi.
A VVIP flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying the Prime Minister will take off from Shahjalal International Airport at 6am, PM’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim told BSS. The flight is scheduled to reach Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi at 8am local time.
Suvra Mukherjee was suffering from a respiratory ailment and had suffered a cardiac arrest about a fortnight back. She was under treatment at the Army (Research and Referral) Hospital in Delhi.
Suvra Mukherjee was born on September 17, 1940 in Jessore (a southern district in Bangladesh) and married Pranab Mukherjee on 13 July, 1957.
Suvra Mukherjee was an ardent fan of 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.
She was also a highly talented painter who had many groups and solo exhibitions to her credit.