Satish Kumar

His most notable accomplishment is the completion, together with a companion, E. Menon, of a peace walk of over 8,000 miles in June 1962 for two and a half years, from New Delhi to Moscow, Paris, London, and Washington, D.C, the capitals of the world's earliest nuclear-armed countries. He insists that reverence for nature should be at the heart of every political and social debate. Defending criticism that his goals are unrealistic, he has said,

Training under Vinoba Bhave is recorded. The recorded working language is English. The field of work recorded is journalism, editing and pacifism. Places of work recorded in the authority are England and Devon. Residence is recorded at Hartland. Distinctions recorded are Jamnalal Bajaj Award.

• Name — Satish Kumar • Born — 9 August 1936 • Birthplace — Sri Dungargarh, Rajputana Agency, British India (present day Rajasthan, India) • Known for — Founder, Schumacher College & The Small School, Editor Emeritus of Resurgence & Ecologist • Movement — Nuclear disarmament; Environmental sustainability • Boards — RSPCA • Partner — June Mitchell • Children — Mukti Kumar Mitchell, Maya Kumar Mitchell • Awards — Honorary Doctorate in Education, Plymouth University; Honorary Doctorate in Literature, University of Lancaster; Honorary Doctorate in Law, University of Exeter; Jamnalal Bajaj International Award

Kumar was born in Sri Dungargarh, Rajasthan, India. At the age of 9, he left his family and became a Jain monk. At 18, after reading a book by Mahatma Gandhi, he ran away from the mendicant order, to become a student of Vinoba Bhave, an eminent disciple of Gandhi and his nonviolence and land reform ideas.

Inspired by Bertrand Russell's civil disobedience against the atomic bomb, in June 1962 Kumar and his friend E. P. Menon decided to dedicate themselves to undertaking a peace walk from India to the four capitals of the nuclear world, Moscow, Paris, London, and Washington D.C., and decided to carry no money on their trip. They called it a 'Pilgrimage for peace' and it took two and a half years. Bhave gave the young men two 'gifts'. One was to be penniless wherever they walked. The other was to be vegetarian. They first travelled through Pakistan. Leaving Pakistan via the Khyber Pass, they continued through Afghanistan, Iran, Armenia, Georgia, and the Caucasus Mountains, reaching Moscow, then Paris, London, and Washington, D.C. Travelling on foot and carrying no money, Kumar and his companion would stay with anyone who offered them food or shelter.Peace tea • Illustration — Satish Kumar at The Convention on Modern Liberty, London, 28/2/2009 While on their way to Moscow they met two women outside a tea factory. After explaining what they were doing one of the women gave them four packets of tea, one to be delivered to each of the leaders of the four nuclear powers and to also deliver a message, "when you think you need to press the button, stop for a minute and have a fresh cup of tea". This further inspired their journey and became in part the reason for it. They eventually delivered 'peace tea' to the leaders of four of the nuclear powers. The journey is chronicled in Kumar's book No Destination: Autobiography of a Pilgrim.

Between 1973 and 2016, Kumar was editor of Resurgence & Ecologist (combining the former Resurgence magazine, which had been described as the artistic and spiritual flagship of the green movement, with The Ecologist). He contributed an essay to The Society for Curious Thought entitled "Focus on Food". He has also been a contributor to the BBC's "Thought for the Day" strand on the Today programme, and also appeared on Desert Island Discs. Kumar was interviewed by Richard Dawkins in his 'Slaves to Superstition' episode of the documentary The Enemies of Reason, investigating the prevalence of unscientific beliefs in modern society. He also made a film, Earth Pilgrim, for BBC2's Natural History Series.

Kumar is a founder of Schumacher College international centre for ecological studies.The college was based on the Dartington Hall estate near Totnes, Devon, England, and offered ecology-centred degree programmes, short courses and horticultural programmes from 1991 until 2024. It was attended by students from all over the world. It closed on that site in 2024 and in July 2025, Dartington Hall Trust announced that the Satish Kumar Foundation had negotiated rights to the college name and its intellectual property assets. As of 2025, the reborn college has not yet found a site. In 2023 Satish Kumar and Schumacher College were awarded the Bicentenary Medal by the RSA for their outstanding contributions to the advancement of design in industry and society.

Kumar co-wrote the World Peace Prayer with Mother Teresa (adapted from themes in the Upanishads). The prayer was first used publicly in July 1981 during an interfaith gathering at St James's Church, Piccadilly, London. In a later statement (2022), Satish Kumar confirmed that he launched the prayer jointly with Mother Teresa at this occasion.

Kumar was one of the contributors to the book, We Are One: A Celebration of Tribal Peoples, released in October 2009. The book explores the culture of peoples around the world, portraying both its diversity and the threats it faces. It contains a collection of statements from tribal people, photographs, and essays from international authors, campaigners, politicians, philosophers, poets, artists, journalists, anthropologists, environmentalists and photojournalists. The royalties from the sale of this book go to the indigenous rights organization, Survival International.

Satish Kumar is the father of two children, a girl and a boy, by his wife in India. Kumar, a recipient of the Jamnalal Bajaj International Award, settled in England in 1973. He lives a simple life in Hartland, Devon, with his partner June Mitchell and their two children.

Prior to the 2015 UK general election, he was one of several celebrities who endorsed the parliamentary candidacy of the Green Party's Caroline Lucas.