Dhanvanthi, Lady Rama Rau (1893–1987) was founder and president of the Family Planning Association of India and the

International Planned Parenthood Federation The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) is a global non-governmental organisation with the broad aims of promoting sexual and reproductive health, and advocating the right of individuals to make their own choices in family ...

. She was married to Sir

Benegal Rama Rau Sir Benegal Rama Rau CIE, ICS (1 July 1889 – 13 December 1969) was the fourth Governor of the Reserve Bank of India from 1 July 1949 to 14 January 1957. Early life and family He was born in a Konkani-speaking Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmin fa ...

, the noted civil servant, and was the mother of

Santha Rama Rau Santha Rama Rau (24 January 1923 – 21 April 2009) was an Indian-born American writer. Early life and background While Santha's father was a Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmin from Canara whose mother-tongue was Konkani, her mother was a K ...

, the writer.

Early life

Dhanvanthi was born into a Kashmir

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (gur ...

family as Dhanvanthi Handoo, born and brought up in

Hubli Hubli, officially known as Hubballi, is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. The twin cities Hubli–Dharwad form the second largest city in the state by area and population and the largest city in North Karnataka. Hubli is in Dharwad distr ...

(now in

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

) and was therefore conversant with

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

. 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

Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmin Chitrapur Saraswats are a small Konkani-speaking community of Hindu Brahmins in India. They are traditionally found along the Kanara coast and call themselves ''Bhanaps'' in the Konkani language. This is a small community from India spread th ...

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 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 duri ...

along with 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. In 1932, she attended the International Alliance of Women for Suffrage and Equal Citizenship in Berlin, leading the Indian delegation at the behest of

Sarojini Naidu Sarojini Naidu (''née'' Chattopadhyay; 13 February 1879 – 2 March 1949) was an Indian political activist, feminist and poet. A proponent of civil rights, women's emancipation, and anti-imperialistic ideas, she was an important person in Ind ...

. In 1946, she was elected president of the

All India Women's Conference The All India Women's Conference (AIWC) is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) based in Delhi. It was founded in 1927 by Margaret Cousins in order to improve educational efforts for women and children and has expanded its scope to also tackle ...

. In 1949, she started the Family Planning Association of India. In 1952, Dhanvanthi co-founded and served as the joint president of the

, along with Margaret Sanger.

Awards

* Kaisir-i-Hind gold medal by the British Government for her work with women’s associations. *

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 ...

by the Indian Government in 1959.

Bibliography

Her memoirs have been published under the title ''An Inheritance''.

References

1893 births 1987 deaths Kashmiri people Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in social work People from Hubli 20th-century Indian educational theorists Social workers Educators from Karnataka Women educators from Karnataka Social workers from Karnataka Wives of knights 20th-century women educators 20th-century Indian women {{india-bio-stub