Dr Muthulakshmi Reddi
1886 – 1968
Physician and reformer whose 1926 nomination to the Madras Legislative Council was made possible by the Justice government's 1921 franchise reform.
Muthulakshmi Reddi (30 July 1886 – 22 July 1968), also spelled Reddy, was a physician and social reformer. In 1907 she became the first woman admitted to Madras Medical College, completing her studies in 1912 with seven gold medals.
She is included here because her public career was closely bound up with a Justice-era reform, not because she was a party member. The first Justice government made voter qualifications gender-neutral on 1 April 1921, and in 1926 she was nominated to the Madras Legislative Council, becoming the first woman legislator in British India. She later became the first woman Deputy President of the council.
In the council she moved a Bill in 1926 to abolish the Devadasi system. She led the agitation for the municipal and legislative franchise for women, supported women's participation in the 1930 Civil Disobedience Movement and resigned from the council in protest at Gandhi's arrest. She received the Padma Bhushan.
Key contributions
- First woman admitted to Madras Medical College, 1907
- First woman legislator in British India, 1926
- Moved the 1926 Bill to abolish the Devadasi system
- Campaigned for women's franchise