Lakshmi N. Menon (29 March 1899 – 30 November 1994) was an Indian freedom fighter and politician. She was Minister of State from 1962 to 1966. As delegate she held a speech at the United Nations General Assembly in December 1948 at the adotion of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Early life

Born in Trivandrum, she was the child of Rama Varma Thampan and Madhavikutty Amma. In 1930, she married Professor V. K. Nandan Menon, who later became vice-chancellor of the University of Travancore (1950–1951) and of Patna University, as well as director for the

Indian Institute of Public Administration The Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) was established in 1954 and is research and training organization under the Ministry of Personnel of the Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), k ...

Career

Guests of a State Dinner for President Dr

She was a Rajya Sabha member from 1952 to 1966.''Rajya Sabha members biographical sketches 1952 – 2003''. rajyasabha.nic.in. She served in the Ministry of External Affairs as parliamentary secretary from 1952 to 1957, as deputy minister from 1957 to 1962 and as Minister of State to 1966.''Women Members of the Rajya Sabha''. Rajya Sabha Secretariat. New Delhi, 2003. Retiring from political service in 1967, she turned to social work and also to writing, authoring among other things a book on Indian women for the Oxford Pamphlets on Indian Affairs series, published by Oxford University Press. She helped to found the

Federation of University Women Graduate Women International (GWI), originally named the International Federation of University Women (IFUW), is an international organisation for women university graduates. IFUW was founded in 1919 following the First World War by both British and ...

in India. In recognition of her services, she was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1957 and she was the second Malayali to receive the award. Menon dedicated her active life after politics for the cause of the nation. She served the All India Women's Conference as president and patron for many years. She was the vice president of All India Prohibition Council along with Morarji Desai. In 1988, she along with

A. P. Udhayabhanu A. P. Udayabhanu (1 October 1915 – 15 December 1999) was an Indian freedom fighter, politician, journalist, writer, and social activist from the state of Kerala. Udayabhanu was a leader of the Indian National Congress and served as the pre ...

and Johnson J. Edayaranmula established Alcohol & Drug Information Centre (ADIC)-India and served as its president till her death. She also served as president of the All India Committee for the Eradication of Illiteracy Among Women and as chairman of the

Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trust The Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trust is an organisation dedicated to the development of women and children in rural India. It was founded by Mahatma Gandhi in 1945 in dedication to his deceased wife Kasturba Gandhi. It has its headquarters ...

from 1972 to 1985. Lakshmi Menon's tenure as Minister of State in Nehru Government was instrumental in smoothing the bureaucratic procedure involved in setting up Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station at Trivandrum.

Bibliography

References

External links

Biographical details from the blog ''Maddy's Ramblings'' (2016)

Personal Reminiscences of great niece (2021)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Menon, Lakshmi N. 1899 births 1994 deaths Malayali politicians Politicians from Thiruvananthapuram Graduate Women International people Union deputy ministers of India Union ministers of state of India Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in public affairs Rajya Sabha members from Bihar Malayalam-language writers Indian National Congress politicians from Kerala Women in Kerala politics 20th-century Indian women politicians 20th-century Indian politicians Women union ministers of state of India Women members of the Rajya Sabha