Ammu Swaminathan or A. V. Ammakuti
(22 April 1894 – 4 July 1978) was an Indian social worker and political activist during the
Indian independence movement
The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947.
The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...
and a member of the Constituent Assembly of India.
Early life
Ammukutty Swaminadhan was born into the Vadakkath family of
Anakkara in
Ponnani taluk,
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
. Her father, Govinda Menon, was a minor local official. Both of Ammu's parents belonged to the
Nair
The Nair , also known as Nayar, are a group of Indian Hindu castes, described by anthropologist Kathleen Gough as "not a unitary group but a named category of castes". The Nair include several castes and many subdivisions, not all of whom histo ...
caste, and she was the youngest of their thirteen children, which included nine daughters. Ammu never went to school and received only a rudimentary education at home, which consisted of minimal reading and writing in Malayalam, cooking and keeping house, to prepare her for married life. She lost her father at a very young age, and her mother struggled to raise her children and arrange marriages for her many daughters. Resultantly, when Ammu was 13, her mother arranged an alliance for her which conformed to the
Sambandam
Sambandham was an informal mode of marriage followed by Nairs, Samantha Kshatriyas, Kshatriyas, and Ambalavasis among their own communities as well as with the Nambudiris, in what is the present day state of Kerala, India. All of these were mat ...
system which was well accepted in
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
society at that time. Her spouse was Subbarama Swaminathan, an
Kerala Iyer
Kerala Iyers, Pattars or Bhattars, are Tamil Brahmins of the Indian state of Kerala — people who were residents in the Kerala region, and also people who migrated from present day Tamil Nadu in different waves from the time of the Chera ...
Brahmin who was more than twenty years older than Ammu.
Married life
Subbarama Swaminathan, born into a middle-class
Kerala Iyer
Kerala Iyers, Pattars or Bhattars, are Tamil Brahmins of the Indian state of Kerala — people who were residents in the Kerala region, and also people who migrated from present day Tamil Nadu in different waves from the time of the Chera ...
family, had struggled hard in his early life to gain an education and rise above his situation. He had studied with scholarships at the universities of
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
and
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. His extended stay abroad and financial situation had prevented him from marrying until he was in his mid-30s. The arrival of the very young and sheltered Ammu fulfilled deep emotional needs for Subbarama and he devoted a large part of his life to nurturing her development in every way. Indeed, he formally married Ammu at a registry office in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
at a later point. This was necessary because
Sambandam
Sambandham was an informal mode of marriage followed by Nairs, Samantha Kshatriyas, Kshatriyas, and Ambalavasis among their own communities as well as with the Nambudiris, in what is the present day state of Kerala, India. All of these were mat ...
relationships, while traditionally acknowledged, did not constitute marriage and the children of such a union belonged only to the family of their mother and not their father. Even the registered marriage in London did not change people's attitudes, or the way the family was received in society: both of Ammu's daughters were to recount in their memoirs that while their father's family acknowledged them (as was traditional) by including them at family events such as weddings, they would be served their food separately from other family members, and subtle distinctions would be evident in the way they were treated.
The legally valid wedding in the London registry office did have one definite result: the abandonment of the matrilineal
Marumakkathayam
Marumakkathayam was a system of matrilineal inheritance prevalent in regions what now form part of the southern Indian state Kerala. Descent and the inheritance of property was traced through females. It was followed by all Nair castes, Ambalav ...
system and the severance of affiliation with the Vadakkath family and the matrilineal
Nair
The Nair , also known as Nayar, are a group of Indian Hindu castes, described by anthropologist Kathleen Gough as "not a unitary group but a named category of castes". The Nair include several castes and many subdivisions, not all of whom histo ...
community to which Ammu and her parents had belonged. Henceforth, she and her children would be known by the name of their husband/father. Thus, the family came to be known by the name Swaminathan.
Career
Ammu's life was transformed and blossomed under the tutelage of her husband. Subbarama Swaminathan both indulged and nurtured his much younger wife and encouraged her talents. He appointed tutors to teach her English and other subjects at home, and thus rectify to the extent possible the fact that she was uneducated. She soon became fluent in English, and the confidence which her husband's support gave her meant that she also developed a forceful and willful personality. Indeed she later came to dominate her husband thoroughly, because she was much younger and better-looking than him, and because she had a forceful personality. It was under her husband's influence that Ammu became a follower of
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
and took part in India's struggle for independence. After independence, she served as a member of the
Constituent Assembly of India
The Constituent Assembly of India was elected to frame the Constitution of India. It was elected by the 'Provincial Assembly'. Following India's independence from the British rule in 1947, its members served as the nation's first Parliament as ...
.
In 1952, Ammu Swaminadhan was elected a member of the
Rajya Sabha
The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...
from
Madras State
Madras State was a state of India during the mid-20th century. At the time of its formation in 1950, it included the whole of present-day Tamil Nadu (except Kanyakumari district), Coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema, the Malabar region of North and ...
. She was associated with several cultural and social organizations, and served as President of
the Bharat Scouts and Guides
The Bharat Scouts and Guides (BSG) is the national Scouting and Guiding association of India. The national headquarters of BSG is recognised by the Government of India.
Scouting was founded in India in 1909 as an overseas branch of the Scout ...
from November 1960 to March 1965. She was also selected as 'Mother of The Year' in 1975 on the inauguration of International Women's Year.
Children and family
Ammu Swaminathan had four children:
*
Govind Swaminadhan
Govind Swaminadhan (9 October 1909 – 30 September 2003) was an Indian lawyer who served as the Advocate-General of Tamil Nadu from 1969 to 1976. He also served as president of the Madras Bar Association.
Early life and education
Govind was ...
, the elder son, a barrister at the Madras High Court. He served as the Advocate-General of Tamil Nadu from 1969 to 1976.
*
Captain Lakshmi Swaminadhan (1914-2012) was a medical doctor, a revolutionary of the Indian independence movement and an officer of the Indian National Army. She was a member of
Rajya Sabha
The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...
and was nominated as a presidential candidate in 2002.
*
Mrinalini Sarabhai
Mrinalini Vikram Sarabhai (11 May 1918 – 21 January 2016) was an Indian classical dancer, choreographer and instructor. She was the founder and director of the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts, an institute for imparting training in dance, ...
, a
Bharatanatyam
Bharatanatyam () is a major form of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the eight widely recognized Indian classical dance forms, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of S ...
dancer and wife of
Vikram Sarabhai
Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai (12 August 1919 – 30 December 1971) was an Indian physicist and astronomer who initiated space research and helped develop nuclear power in India. He was honoured with Padma Bhushan in 1966 and the Padma Vibhushan ...
, a renowned scientist. They are the parents of
Mallika Sarabhai
Mallika Sarabhai (born 9 May 1954) is an activist and Indian classical dancer and actress from Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. Daughter of a classical dancer Mrinalini Sarabhai and space scientist Vikram Sarabhai, Mallika is an accomplished Kuchip ...
, a dancer and former
Gujarati
Gujarati may refer to:
* something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India
* Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat
* Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them
* Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...
film actress.
*Subbaram, the younger son, was a director at Mahindra and Mahindras.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swaminadhan, Ammu
1894 births
1978 deaths
Scouting and Guiding in India
Malayali people
India MPs 1952–1957
Lok Sabha members from Tamil Nadu
Members of the Constituent Assembly of India
People from Palakkad district
People from Dindigul district