Mayawati was born as Kumari Mayawati Das on January 15, 1956 in New Delhi.
The politician's father Prabhu Das was a post office employee at Badalpur village, near Dadri in Gautam Buddha Nagar.
While Mayawati's brothers were all sent to private schools, the daughters were sent to 'low-performing government schools'.
After schooling, the former CM of Uttar Pradesh pursued her BA in the year 1975 from Kalindi College, Delhi University.
Mayawati did her B.Ed from VMLG College, Ghaziabad (Meerut University) in the year 1976.
She then earned her LLB degree from the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi in 1983.
Mayawati was studying for IAS exams and working as a teacher when she met Kanshi Ram and then eventually became a member of his team when he founded BSP.