Gopal Hari Deshmukh was an Indian activist, thinker, social reformer and writer from Maharashtra. His original surname was Shidhaye. Because of 'Vatan'(right of tax collection) that the family had received, the family was later called Deshmukh. At age 25,Deshmukh started writing articles aimed at social reforms in Maharashtra in the weekly Prabhakar under the pen name Lokhitawadi.