Muthulakshmi Reddy

Reddy was born on 30 July 1886 at Thirukokarnam in the princely state of Pudukkottai. Her father, S. Narayanaswami Iyer, was principal of the Maharaja's College; her mother, Chandrammal, came from the devadasi community, and the marriage led to her father's ostracism by his family.

Despite resistance she was admitted to the Maharaja's College as its first female student. In 1907 she entered Madras Medical College, again as its first woman student, and graduated in 1912 with seven gold medals, becoming one of India's earliest women doctors. She went on to serve as the first woman house surgeon at the Government Maternity and Ophthalmic Hospital.

Reddy was appointed to the Madras Legislative Council in 1926 and was elected its first woman Deputy President. In the Council she moved the bill to abolish the devadasi system of dedicating girls to temples. She resigned in 1930 in protest at the arrest of Mahatma Gandhi.

Approached by two girls fleeing dedication as devadasis, and finding that no hostel or school would take them, she established Avvai Home in Madras in 1931 to shelter and educate such girls.

After her younger sister died of cancer at a time when treatment was not locally available, Reddy campaigned for a dedicated cancer hospital. The foundation stone of the Cancer Institute at Adyar was laid by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1952, and the hospital began work on 18 June 1954 under the auspices of the Women's Indian Association.

She died in Madras on 22 July 1968, aged 81.

The Government of India conferred the Padma Bhushan on Reddy in 1956 in recognition of her services.[3][4][5]