Queen-Marys-College-Chennai-Queen-Mary-Statue

Queen Mary's College is a government-run college in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Founded in 1914, it is the first women's college in the city and the third oldest women's college in India and second oldest in South India after

Sarah Tucker College The Sarah Tucker College is an institution in Palayamkottai, a town in Tirunelveli District in the southern state of Tamil Nadu in India. It is the first college for women in south India, owing its origin to Sarah Tucker of England and her frien ...

. The college is located on junction of Kamarajar Salai and Dr. Radhakrishnan Salai facing the Marina Beach. The college plays a vital role in education and empowerment of girl children from poor economic sections.

History

It was founded by Dorothy de la Hey with the support of the Governor of Madras Presidency Lord Pentland in 1914 as Madras College for Women. It was later renamed as Queen Mary's College in 1917. The first three child widows to graduate from South India, Ammukutty, Lakshmi and Parvathy graduated from this college. Originally the residence of Lt Col Francis Capper in the mid-19th century, the building later housed a hotel before becoming a college in 1914. Known as the Capper House, the building was preserved as a heritage building. The college grew significantly under Dorothy de la Hey with many new buildings: Pentland House, Stone House and Jeypore House being built, and by 1923 Science subjects were also taught here. Physics and Chemistry laboratories were also built. In 1928, it was the first college in India to offer a two-year intermediate course in Indian music and in 1930 the music department was formally opened. By the time Dorothy de la Hey left in 1936 the college had grown significantly. Capper House was later demolished to construct a new administrative office for the college known as the Kalaignar Maaligai, which was inaugurated in July 2010. After her, Miss Myers became the Principal till 1946. The first Indian Principal was Nallamuthu Ramamurthi.

Notable alumni

Yashodhara Dasappa Yashodhara Dasappa (1905-1980) was an Indian independence activist, Gandhian, social reformer and a Minister in the state of Karnataka. She was politically aligned with the Indian National Congress and served as a Minister in the Karnataka state ...

, politician,

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

receipt *

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 renaissanc ...

, freedom fighter, Padma Vibhusan recipient * Indira Joseph Venniyoor,

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All a ...

broadcaster *

Janaki Ammal Edavalath Kakkat Janaki Ammal (4 November 1897 – 7 February 1984) was an Indian botanist who worked on plant breeding, cytogenetics and phytogeography. Her most notable work involved studies on sugarcane and the eggplant (brinjal). She als ...

, scientist *

Lakshmi Sahgal Lakshmi Sahgal () (born Lakshmi Swaminathan; 24 October 1914 – 23 July 2012) was a revolutionary of the Indian independence movement, an officer of the Indian National Army, and the Minister of Women's Affairs in the Azad Hind government. La ...

, freedom fighter *

Charumathi Ramachandran Charumathi Ramachandran (born 12 July 1951) is a Carnatic music singer. She is a disciple of M.L. Vasanthakumari. She was a gold medalist and stood first in music from the Madras University. She was one of the first carnatic vocalists to introd ...

, musician *

Nimi McConigley Nimi McConigley (née Swamidoss; born 12 December 1939) is an Indian-born American politician and journalist. A Republican, McConigley served in the Wyoming House of Representatives from 1994 until 1996, where she represented the 59th House dist ...

, first Indian American women to serve in any American State legislature *

Vani Jairam Vani Jairam (born as Kalaivani on 30 November 1945), also credited as Vani Jayaram, is an Indian singer. She is best known as a playback singer in South Indian cinema. Vani's career started in 1971 and has spanned over five decades. She has do ...

, musician *

Anuradha Sriram Anuradha Sriram (born 9 July 1970) is an Indian carnatic and playback singer and child actress who hails from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. She has sung more than 700 songs in Tamil, Telugu, Sinhala, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali and Hindi f ...

, musician * M. Narmadha, musician * A. Kanyakumari, musician * R. Sivabhogam, first women chartered accountant in India

References

External links

Queen Mary's College website

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{{Coord, 13.045146, 80.279122, display=title Arts and Science colleges in Chennai Women's universities and colleges in Chennai 1914 establishments in India Educational institutions established in 1914 Colleges affiliated to University of Madras