Mercy Ravi (18 March 1945 – 5 September 2009) was a member of

Kerala Legislative Assembly The Kerala Legislative Assembly, popularly known as the Kerala Niyamasabha, is the State Assembly of Kerala, one of the 28 states in India. The Assembly is formed by 140 elected representatives. Each elected member represents one of the 140 c ...

and the wife of the Indian politician Vayalar Ravi. She was also a renowned social worker and author.

Early life and education

She was born in 1945 in Ernakulam district of Kerala to a Christian family. She was the daughter of Kuruvila Katticaren and Thandamma. She was educated at Maharaja's College, Ernakulam and was a post graduate. She married politician Vayalar Ravi, who was also her college senior, in 1969. Ravi later became the Overseas Indian Affairs Minister of India. The couple had one son, Ravi Krishna, and two daughters, Lisa Rohan and Lakshmi Ravi.

Career

Mercy began her political career as a student activist. She held several key positions in the

Congress party The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

and was the General Secretary of the party in the Kerala Pradesh Mahila Congress and Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee. At the national level, she was elected as the President of the Indian National Trade Union Congress women's committee in 2000 and as member of All India Congress Committee. She was a representative of the Asia Pacific Region International Confederation of Trade Unions and a member of the Indian delegation to the World Women's Conference in Beijing.

Death

At the end of her tenure in the Kerala assembly (2001–06) her health deteriorated and she underwent treatment for kidney problems. On 5 September 2009, at the age of 64, she died at the Madras Medical Mission Hospital, Chennai. She was laid to rest in Vayalar Ravi's ancestral home at Vayalar in Kerala's Alappuzha district.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ravi, Mercy 1945 births 2009 deaths Indian National Congress politicians from Kerala People from Ernakulam district Members of the Kerala Legislative Assembly 20th-century Indian women politicians 20th-century Indian politicians 21st-century Indian women politicians 21st-century Indian politicians St. Teresa's College alumni Women members of the Kerala Legislative Assembly