Women's Indian Association
The Women's Indian Association (WIA) was founded at Adayar, Madras, in 1917 by Annie Besant, Margaret Cousins, Jeena Raja Dasa, and others to liberate women from the deplorable condition women suffered in socio-economic and political matters during the 19th and the early 20th century. The Association later developed into a potent force to fight against illiteracy, child marriage, the Devadasi system and other, social ills. After Besant's death in 1933, Dorothy Jinarajadasa became more involved in the internal politics of theosophists. Unfortunately the faction she supported fell from favour, and her name stopped appearing in all documents from that point onward. History The name of the organization was chosen to indicate its inclusive makeup, allowing both Indian and European women to join, and lack of affiliation to any philosophy, religion, caste, or social class. Founded on 8 May 1917, in Adyar, Madras by Margaret E. Cousins, its first president was Annie Besant. Founding me ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Annie Besant
Annie Besant ( Wood; 1 October 1847 – 20 September 1933) was a British socialist, theosophist, freemason, women's rights activist, educationist, writer, orator, political party member and philanthropist. Regarded as a champion of human freedom, she was an ardent supporter of both Irish and Indian self-rule. She was also a prolific author with over three hundred books and pamphlets to her credit. As an educationist, her contributions included being one of the founders of the Banaras Hindu University. For fifteen years, Besant was a public proponent in England of atheism and scientific materialism. Besant's goal was to provide employment, better living conditions, and proper education for the poor. Besant then became a prominent speaker for the National Secular Society (NSS), as well as a writer, and a close friend of Charles Bradlaugh. In 1877 they were prosecuted for publishing a book by birth control campaigner Charles Knowlton. The scandal made them famous, and Bradla ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Margaret Cousins
Margaret Elizabeth Cousins (''née'' Gillespie, also known as Gretta Cousins; 7 November 1878 – 11 March 1954) was an Irish-Indian educationist, suffragist and Theosophist, who established All India Women's Conference (AIWC) in 1927. She was the wife of poet and literary critic James Cousins, with whom she moved to India in 1915. She is credited with preserving the Indian National Anthem ''Jana Gana Mana'' based on the notes provided by Tagore himself in February 1919, during Rabindranath Tagore's visit to the Madanapalle College. Life Margaret Gillespie, from an Irish Protestant family, was born at Boyle, County Roscommon, and educated locally and in Derry. She studied music at the Royal University of Ireland in Dublin, graduating in 1902, and became a teacher. As a student she had met the poet and literary critic James Cousins, and she married him in 1903. The pair explored socialism, vegetarianism, and psychical research together. In 1906, after attending a National Conferen ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jeena Raja Dasa
{{Disambiguation, surname ...
Jeena may refer to: Films * '' Jeena Jeena'' * '' Humne Jeena Seekh Liya'' * ''Jeena Yahan'' * ''Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai'' (film) * '' Maine Jeena Seekh Liya'' * ''Jeena Sirf Merre Liye'' * '' Jeena Hai Toh Thok Daal'' * '' Jeena Marna Tere Sang'' * '' Tere Bina Kya Jeena'' * ''Jeena Teri Gali Mein'' (2013 film) Other * P. S. Jeena, Indian basketballer * Surendra Singh Jeena, Indian politician * Jeena Shin, New Zealand artist born in Seoul, South Korea * ''Jeena Teri Gali Mein'', a musical * ''Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai'', a talk show * Jeena, the Cantonese pronunciation of the derogatory word Shina Shina may refer to: * Shina language, an Indo-Aryan language spoken in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan * Shina people, a Dardic ethnic group in Gilgit Baltistan, Pakistan People named Shina * Shina Matsudo (born 1973), Japanese freestyle swimmer * ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dorothy Jinarajadasa
Dorothy Jinarajadasa (1882 - 1963) was a Scottish-Indian feminist, suffragette, and writer. Along with Margaret Cousins and Annie Besant, she established the Women's Indian Association in 1917, and was active in efforts to end child marriage and female illiteracy in India. She was a justice of the peace for Madras, and an active Theosophist. She is one of the earliest members of the suffragist movement in India, and is known for her efforts to build transnational networks between suffrage movements. Biography She was born as Dorothy M. Graham in Scotland, and married Sri Lankan Theosophist, Curuppumullage Jinarajadasa on 11 November 1916. They had met in Adyar, in meetings of the Theosophical Society, and had traveled back to London to be married. Career Jinarajadasa was active in efforts to establish suffrage for women in the United Kingdom as well as in India, and was arrested (but not charged) for her participation in protests for the British suffrage movement. In 1917 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Adyar, Chennai
Adyar is a large neighbourhood in south Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is located on the southern banks of the Adyar River. It is surrounded by the Tharamani in the West, Tiruvanmiyur, Thiruvanmiyur to the South, Besant Nagar in the East, Kotturpuram in the North-West and Raja Annamalaipuram, Raja Annamalai puram in the North past the Adyar River . Adyar is one of the costliest areas in Chennai with property values four times the value of similar sized properties in the northern part of Chennai. The Gandhi Nagar region of Adyar is one of the poshest localities in Chennai. History Etymology The neighbourhood gets its name from the Adyar River, which flows through its northern limits. The term ''Adyar'' is the anglicized form of the Tamil word ''aḍai-ārŭ'' ( ''clogged-river''), which is colloquially just pronounced as ''aḍayār''. British India Adyar and the neighbouring Guindy had been used as hunting grounds by British officials of Fort St. George from the 1680s ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay
Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay (3 April 1903 – 29 October 1988) was an Indian social reformer and freedom activist. She was most remembered for her contribution to the Indian independence movement; for being the driving force behind the renaissance of Indian handicrafts, handlooms, and theatre in independent India; and for upliftment of the socio-economic standard of Indian women by pioneering the co-operation. She is the first lady in India to stand in elections from Madras Constituency although she lost in the elections but she pioneered the path for the women in India. Several cultural institutions in India today exist because of her vision, including the National School of Drama, Sangeet Natak Akademi, Central Cottage Industries Emporium, and the Crafts Council of India. She stressed the significant role which handicrafts and cooperative grassroot movements play in the social and economic upliftment of the Indian people. To this end she withstood great opposition both before and ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mary Poonen Lukose
Mary Poonen Lukose was an Indian gynecologist, obstetrician and the first female Surgeon General in India. She was the founder of a ''Tuberculosis Sanatorium'' in Nagarcoil and the ''X-Ray and Radium Institute'', Thiruvananthapuram, served as the head of the Health Department in the Princely State of Travancore and was the first woman legislator of the state. The Government of India awarded her the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri in 1975. Biography Mary Lukose, née Mary Poonen, was born to a rich Anglican Syrian Christian family as the only child on 2 August 1886 in Aymanam—a small village later made famous by being the setting of the novel ''The God of Small Things''— in the princely state of Travancore (modern day Kerala), in the British Indian Empire. Her father, T. E. Poonen, was a medical doctor, the first medical graduate in Travancore and the Royal Physician of Travancore state. Her mother had health issues due to which Mary was brought up ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Begam Hasrat Mohani
Begum (also begüm, bagum, begom, begam, baigum or beygum) is a royal and aristocratic title from Central and South Asia. It is the feminine equivalent of the title ''baig'' or ''bey'', which in Turkic languages means "higher official". It usually refers to the wife or daughter of a '' beg''. The related form '' begzada'' (daughter of a ''beg'') also occurs.MoazzambaigBegzadi or Begzada Digg.com: Social News. Retrieved July 8, 2011. In South Asia, particularly in Delhi, Hyderabad, Sindh, Punjab, Afghanistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Bengal, ''begum'' has been adapted for use as an honorific for Muslim women of high social status, accomplishment, or rank, as in English language the title "Lady" or "Dame" is used. The honorific may either precede or follow the proper name of the woman. Title In modern society Colloquially, the term is also used in Uzbekistan, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh by Muslim men to refer to their own wives, daughters, sisters or as an honorific address ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dhanvanthi Rama Rau
Dhanvanthi, Lady Rama Rau (1893–1987) was founder and president of the Family Planning Association of India and the International Planned Parenthood Federation. She was married to Sir Benegal Rama Rau, the noted civil servant, and was the mother of Santha Rama Rau, the writer. Early life Dhanvanthi was born into a Kashmir Brahmin family as Dhanvanthi Handoo, born and brought up in Hubli (now in Karnataka) and was therefore conversant with Kannada. After schooling in Hubli, she moved to Madras to join the Presidency College, from where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in arts, and was awarded the Griggs Gold Medal in English. In Madras, she met and married the distinguished economist and diplomat Sir Benegal Rama Rau a Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmin and a south Indian from a distinguished family. Career She started her career as an Assistant Professor at Queen Mary’s College, Madras. In 1917, she co-founded the Women's Indian Association along with Annie Besan ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Muthulakshmi Reddy
Muthulakshmi Reddy (also spelled Reddi in some British Indian sources; 30 July 1886 – 22 July 1968) was an Indian medical practitioner, social reformer and Padma Bhushan award recipient. Muthulakshmi Reddy was appointed to the Madras Legislative Council in 1926. This nomination marked the beginning of her lifelong effort to "correct the balance for women by removing social abuses and working for equality in moral standards″. She was a women's activist and social reformer. She had a number of firsts to her name: the first female student to be admitted into a men's college, the first woman House Surgeon in the Government Maternity and Ophthalmic Hospital, the first woman Legislator in British India, the first Chairperson of the State Social Welfare Advisory Board, the first woman Deputy President of the Legislative Council, and the first Alderwoman of the Madras Corporation Avvai Home. Reddy was born in the princely state of Pudukkottai of Tamil Nadu. In spite of various co ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |