Born in Kathmandu into a well-known Newar family
Hisila Yami
हिसिला यमी
Also known as Parvati
Architect, former Maoist politburo member, and government minister; a leading woman figure of Nepal's Maoist movement
Currently Deputy Chairman, Nepal Socialist Party
About
Hisila Yami trained as an architect in Delhi and Newcastle. She then became one of the most prominent women leaders in Nepal’s Maoist movement. She rose to the party’s politburo, its top decision-making group. She led its Women’s Department during the People’s War.
After the peace process, she served as a minister in several government departments, across a series of governments. She later helped found breakaway parties, new parties formed by leaving an existing one, alongside her husband, former Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai. In her 2021 memoir, Hisila: From Revolutionary to First Lady, she told the story of both her own political journey and his.
Quick facts
- Born
- 1959-06-25
- Birthplace
- Kathmandu, Nepal
- Profession
- Politician, Architect
- Current role
- Deputy Chairman, Nepal Socialist Party
- Nationality
- Nepal
- Status
- Alive
Current roles
Deputy Chairman
Nepal Socialist Party · since 2022-07-28
Previous roles
Minister of Land Reform and Management
Government of Nepal · 2011-08
Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation
Government of Nepal · 2008-04
Minister of Physical Planning and Works
Government of Nepal · 2007-04
President
All Nepal Women's Association (Revolutionary)
Education
School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi
Bachelor's degree, Architecture (1982)
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
M.Arch. (1995)
Career & life timeline
- 1959
- 1978
Began her activism as a student
- 1990
Became a prominent women's leader in the pro-democracy uprising against the Panchayat regime
- 1996
Went underground during Nepal's Maoist People's War
- 2007
Joined the interim government as Minister of Physical Planning and Works
- 2021
Published a political memoir, Hisila: From Revolutionary to First Lady
Achievements
One of two women on the CPN (Maoist) politburo
Led the party's Women's Department during the People's War
Organizations & affiliations
- CPN (Maoist)
- Nepal Socialist Party
- All Nepal Women's Association (Revolutionary)
Related people
Last updated: 2026-09-06