V. S. Ramadevi (15 January 1934 – 17 April 2013) was an Indian politician who was the first lady to become the 8th Governor of Karnataka and 9th Chief Election Commissioner of India from 26 November 1990 to 11 December 1990. She was the first woman to become Chief Election Commissioner of India. She was succeeded by T. N. Seshan. Ramadevi was the first (and to date, only) woman to serve as Secretary General of the Rajya Sabha, from 1 July 1993 to 25 September 1997. And also she was the first and to date only female

Governor of Karnataka The Governor of Karnataka is the constitutional head of the Indian state of Karnataka. The governor is appointed by the president of India for a term of five years, and holds office at the president's pleasure. The governor is ''de jure'' head ...

, from 2 December 1999 to 20 August 2002.

Career

Ramadevi was born in Chebrolu of West Godavari District,

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

, India on 15 January 1934 (which happens to be the date of the

Sankranti Sankranti ( sa, संक्रान्ति ''saṁkrānti or saṅkramaṇa'') means transmigration of the Sun from one zodiac to another in Indian astronomy. Each Sankranti is marked as the beginning of a month in the sidereal solar calen ...

harvest festival). She was educated in

Eluru Eluru is a city and the district headquarters of Eluru district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is one of the 14 municipal corporations in the state and the mandal headquarters of Eluru mandal in the Eluru revenue division. The cit ...

. She registered her name as advocate after completing M.A. LLB in the

Andhra Pradesh High Court The High Court of Andhra Pradesh is the High Court of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The seat of the High Court is currently located at Nelapadu. History The High Court of Andhra Pradesh was established in the year 1954 when the sta ...

. She served as the

Governor of Himachal Pradesh This is a list of governors of Himachal Pradesh. Sh.Rajendra Arlekar, Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar is the 21st governor (30th if governors with additional charge also counted) of Himachal Pradesh since July 2021. Out of the regular 20 governors ...

Past Governors in Raj Bhavan, Himachal Pradesh.
/ref> from 26 July 1997 to 1 December 1999 and as the

from 2 December 1999 to 20 August 2002. She died on 17 April 2013 in her residence in HSR Layout

Bangalore Bangalore (), List of renamed places in India, officially Bengaluru (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan area, metropolitan population of a ...

References

External links

Biography at Governor of Karnataka website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramadevi, V. S. Chief Election Commissioners of India 1934 births 2013 deaths Governors of Karnataka Governors of Himachal Pradesh Indian civil servants People from Guntur district Women state governors of India Women in Himachal Pradesh politics Women in Karnataka politics 20th-century Indian women politicians 20th-century Indian politicians 21st-century Indian women politicians 21st-century Indian politicians