Jotirao Phule (11 April 1827 – 28 November 1890) was a radical critical thinker and anti-caste, pro-secular education social reformer. He was from the Satara District in Maharashtra, India and belonged to the Mali community, which is today an Other Backward Caste (OBC). He believed that secular education would be the means by which the lower castes could liberate themselves from Brahmanical hegemony and hypocrisy.
Jotirao Phule was married to Savitribai Phule, and along with her set up schools for girls and for students from the lower castes. These schools are considered to be the first indigenous-run schools in India. He condemned Vedic knowledge, as it upheld the exploitation of the lower castes, and instead taught modern science at his schools.
Additionally, Jotirao Phule believed that education would aid the lower castes in their attempts to transcend untouchability (a practice that he condemned), archaic conventions such as shaving the heads of Hindu widows, and inflexible ritualistic religious practices.