Begum Nusrat Bhutto (b. 23 March 1929 – d. 23 October 2011) was an Iranian-born Pakistani who served as the First Lady of Pakistan from 1971 to 1977, as the wife of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. She also served as a senior member of the federal cabinet between 1988 and 1990, under her daughter, Benazir Bhutto’s government, and was Chairperson of PPP from 1979 to 1984. Her family had settled in Bombay before moving to Karachi after the 1947 Partition. She moved to Oxfordshire with her husband who then was pursuing his legal education. She returned to Pakistan alongside him and accompanied him on state visits under the office of the foreign ministry. On these visits, alongside political negotiations, she would often adorn herself with beautiful sarees and accessories, playing a role in establishing a Pakistani fashion identity globally. After her husband founded the Pakistan People’s Party, she worked to lead the party’s women’s wing. She founded and led several women-centric projects such as the Women’s War Aid Association. Begum Bhutto fought an unsuccessful legal battle to prevent her husband’s execution. After his execution, she, along with her daughters, were put under house arrest by Zia-ul-Haq. In 1981, she and her daughters went into exile to London, where she co-founded the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD), a non-violent opposition to Zia’s regime. Begum Bhutto returned to Pakistan after Benazir made a political comeback in 1986. After the PPP victory in 1988, she joined Benazir’s cabinet as a minister, representing the Larkana District in the National Assembly. She remained in the cabinet until Benazir’s government was dismissed in 1990. Begum Bhutto moved to Dubai in 1996, suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, and remained there until her demise on 23 October 2011.She is remembered for her contribution to empowerment of women and for advocating for democracy in Pakistan, for which she is dubbed as Mādar-e-Jamhūriyat (“Mother of Democracy”), a title she was honored with by the parliament following her death.