R.S.Subbalakshmi | |
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| Born | (1886-08-18)18 August 1886 Mylapore, Madras, India |
| Died | 20 December 1969(1969-12-20) (aged 83) |
| Education | Botany |
| Alma mater | Presidency College, Madras |
| Occupation(s) | Social reformer,educationist, Member ofMadras Legislative Council,Madras Presidency |
| Movement | Rehabilitation of child widows through education |
| Awards | Kaiser-i-Hind award,Padma Shree award |
| Website | sites |
SisterR. S. Subbalakshmi (sometimes spelledSubbulakshmi orSubhalakshmi) (18 August 1886 – 20 December 1969), was asocial reformer andeducationist in India.
Subbalakshmi was born at the remote Thanjavur village of Rishiyur,[1] the other view was Mylapore[clarification needed] inMadras[2] as the first daughter of Visalakshi and R. V. Subramania Iyer (a civil engineer. Her father, R.V. Subramania Iyer was employed in the Public Works Department of the Madras Presidency),.[3] They belonged to an orthodox TamilBrahmin family from theThanjavur district. Subbalakshmi was ranked first in the public examination in the Chingleput District, for the fourth standard of the Madras Presidency at the age of nine.[4] She was married while very young, as was customary, but her husband died soon after.[5] In April 1911, she became the first Hindu woman to graduate from the Madras Presidency[6] and she did this with First Class Honors fromPresidency College, Madras.[7]
In 1912, she founded the Sarada Ladies Union to provide a meeting ground and platform for housewives and other ladies to promote consciousness among them regarding social problems and to encourage them to educate themselves and the Sarada Illam or Widow's Home,[7] which rehabilitated and educated child widows in Madras.[7] Later, in 1921[8] or 1927, she established the Sarada Vidyalaya under the aegis of the Sarada Ladies Union.[7] In 1922 she inaugurated the Lady Willingdon Training College and Practice School and was its first principal.[9] She also established the Srividya Kalanilayam, a school for adult women atMylapore in 1942,[10] and while she was the president of the Mylapore Ladies Club, she formed the Mylapore Ladies Club School Society, in 1956, which was then renamed as the Vidya Mandir School, in Mylapore.[7][11] In addition, she was involved in setting up a social welfare center for women and children inMadambakkam village. nearTambaram, in 1954.[12]
The government of theBritish Raj honoured her with theKaisar-i-Hind Gold Medal for Public Service in 1920,[citation needed] and in 1958, afterindependence of India, the Indian Government awarded her thePadma Shri.[13][14]
While she was in government service as Headmistress of the Lady Willingdon Training College and Superintendent of the Ice House Hostel, Subbalakshmi was prohibited from joining theWomen's Indian Association.[9] To keep her school running Subbalakshmi compromised on her beliefs and efforts against child marriage. Nevertheless, using her fluency inTamil, she made efforts to abolishchild marriage and to encourage education of girls. The historic, first conference, of the then newly established All India Women's Conference, called the "All India Women's Conference on Educational Reform", was held at the Fergusson College, Poona in January 1927.[15] Subbalakshmi was one of the fifty eight prominent delegates attending this meeting.[15][16] She actively supported theChild Marriage Restraint Act, passed in 1930, and appeared before the Joshi committee[9][17] which formulated the Act instrumental in raising the marriageable age of girls to fourteen and boys to sixteen. After retirement, she was involved in the activities of the Women's Indian Association, through which she befriendedAnnie Besant and others. She served as a nominated member of theMadras Legislative Council from 1952 to 1956.[18]
Subbulakshmi died on 20 December 1969 on anEkadashi Day.[19]
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