Rukmini Laxmipathi (also spelled as Rukmani Lakshmipathi, ta, ருக்மிணி லக்ஷ்மிபதி; 6 December 1892 – 6 August 1951) was an Indian independence activist and politician belonging to the Indian National Congress. She was the first woman to be elected to the Madras Legislature and the first to serve as a minister in the

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including the ...

Biography

Rukmini was born in

Madras 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 ...

in an agriculturist family. Her grandfather was the landlord Raja T. Ramrao. She obtained her

B.A Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

from the Women's Christian College, Madras and married Dr. Achanta Laxmipathi. In 1923, she joined the Congress. In 1926, she attended the International Women's Suffrage Alliance Congress at Paris as the Indian representative. For her participation (in 1930) in the Salt Satyagraha in Vedaranyam she was jailed for a year, becoming the first female prisoner in the Salt Satyagraha movement. She contested and won a by election to the Madras Legislative Council in 1934. She was elected to the Madras Presidency Legislative Assembly in the 1937 elections. On 15 July 1937 she was elected as the Deputy Speaker of the assembly. During 1 May 1946 – 23 March 1947, she was the Minister for Public Health of the presidency in the

T. Prakasam Tanguturi Prakasam Panthulu (23 August 1872 – 20 May 1957) was an Indian jurist, political leader, social reformer, and anti-colonial nationalist who served as the chief minister of the Madras Presidency. Tanguturi subsequently became the fi ...

cabinet. She was the first (and only) woman minister of the presidency. Marshall's road in Egmore, Chennai has been renamed after her. In her memory, a postage stamp was issued in 1997.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lakshmipathi, Rukmini Indian independence activists from Tamil Nadu Politicians from Chennai Indian National Congress politicians from Tamil Nadu 1892 births 1951 deaths Tamil Nadu ministers 20th-century Indian politicians Indian tax resisters