About this person
H. Jay Dinshah was an American animal rights activist and founder of the American Vegan Society. He was an early organiser of the vegan movement in the United States and made a significant contribution to its institutional development.
He was born on 2 November 1933 in Bound Brook, New Jersey. He became vegan as a young man, and during his travels he made contact with the British Vegan Society and other figures who rejected animal exploitation.
In 1960, he and Freya Dinshah founded the American Vegan Society. The organisation published the magazine Ahimsa, held educational events and advocated a life free from the use of animals for food, clothing, experiments or entertainment.
Dinshah used the term ahimsa for the principle of non-harm. He died on 8 June 2000; his work connected vegan ideas with regular publishing, education and the long-term organisation of an activist movement.