Dhanvanthi,

Lady ''Lady'' is a term for a woman who behaves in a polite way. Once used to describe only women of a high social class or status, the female counterpart of lord, now it may refer to any adult woman, as gentleman can be used for men. "Lady" is al ...

Rama Rau (1893–1987) was founder and president of the Family Planning Association of India and the International Planned Parenthood Federation. Her husband was Sir Benegal Rama Rau, the noted civil servant; she was the mother of Santha Rama Rau, the writer.

Early life

Dhanvanthi was born into a

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

family as Dhanvanthi Handoo, born and brought up in

Hubli Hubli (officially Hubballi) is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. The twin cities Hubli–Dharwad form the second largest city in the state by area and population and the largest city in North Karnataka. Hubli is in Dharwad district of ...

(now in

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

) and was therefore conversant with

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

. After schooling in Hubli, she moved to

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

to join the Presidency College, from where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in arts, and was awarded the Griggs Gold Medal in English. In Madras, she met and married the distinguished economist and diplomat Sir Benegal Rama Rau a Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmin and a south Indian from a distinguished family.

Career

She started her career as an assistant professor at Queen Mary's College, Madras. In 1917, she co-founded the Women's Indian Association along with

Annie Besant Annie Besant (; Wood; 1 October 1847 – 20 September 1933) was an English socialist, Theosophy (Blavatskian), theosophist, freemason, women's rights and Home Rule activist, educationist and campaigner for Indian nationalism. She was an arden ...

, Margaret Cousins, Jeena Raja Dasa, and others. This organization aimed to address and improve the difficult socio-economic and political conditions women faced during the 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1932, she attended the International Alliance of Women for Suffrage and Equal Citizenship in Berlin, leading the Indian delegation at the behest of

Sarojini Naidu Sarojini Naidu (Birth name, née Chattopadhyay) (; 13 February 1879 – 2 March 1949) was an Indian political activist and poet who served as the first Governor of Uttar Pradesh, Governor of United Provinces, after Independence Day (India), Indi ...

. In 1946, she was elected president of the All India Women's Conference. In 1949, she started the Family Planning Association of India. In 1952, Dhanvanthi co-founded and served as the joint president of the International Planned Parenthood Federation, along with

Margaret Sanger Margaret Sanger ( Higgins; September 14, 1879September 6, 1966) was an American birth control activist, sex educator, writer, and nurse. She opened the first birth control clinic in the United States, founded Planned Parenthood, and was instr ...

Awards

* Kaisir-i-Hind gold medal by the British Government for her work with women's associations. *

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 Januar ...

by the Indian Government in 1959.

Bibliography

Her memoirs have been published under the title ''An Inheritance''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rama Rau, Dhanvanthi 1893 births 1987 deaths Kashmiri people Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in social work People from Hubli 20th-century Indian educational theorists 20th-century Indian women educational theorists Educators from Karnataka Women educators from Karnataka Social workers from Karnataka Wives of knights