Vitthal Ramji Shinde (23 April 1873 – 2 January 1944) was a social reformer, researcher, writer, and proponent of anti-untouchability activism and religious unity in Maharashtra, India.

His early childhood was shaped by a liberal family environment, where friends and acquaintances came from diverse religious and caste backgrounds.

He was raised with the belief that religion extended beyond blind faith and empty rituals; it meant engaging personally, and emotionally in the service of God.

His intellectual growth was influenced by the writings of thinkers such as Hari Narayan Apte, Principal Gopal Ganesh Agarkar, John Stuart Mill, Herbert Spencer, Max Müller, Chief Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade, and Sir R. G. Bhandarkar.

Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III of Baroda, a progressive and reformist ruler, provided financial assistance for his travels abroad.

Like Mahatma Gandhi, he wanted unity amongst the untouchables and the Hindu caste, and feared that the British rule would take advantage of such divisions within Indian society and exploit them for its own benefits.

[5] In 1930 he participated in the Civil Disobedience movement of Mahatma Gandhi and was imprisoned for six months of hard labor, in the Yerwada Central Jail (prison) near Pune.

He opposed meaningless rituals, the dominance of hereditary priesthood, and the requirement of a priest to mediate between God and his devotees.