Lucia Navamani Virasinghe-Chinnappa (30 December, 1894 - 1980) was a Sri Lankan medical doctor specialising in

maternal A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of gestatio ...

and infant health.

Biography

Virasinghe-Chinnappa was born in Sri Lanka. Her mother was Sophia Muthamma and her father was Reverend Arulambulam Virasinghe. She studied at St. Margaret's Anglican Convent in Colombo, and then moved to

Madras, India 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 censu ...

, to attend the

Madras Medical College Madras Medical College (MMC) is a public medical college located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1835, it is one of the oldest medical colleges in India, as well as in Asia. History The Government General Hospital was established ...

, graduating in 1916. She was appointed superintendent of the maternity and child welfare scheme in Madras, and developed a network of health centres with women medical officers to cover the city. In 1926, she was appointed a tutor for women students at the Madras Medical College. From 1930 until her retirement in 1948, she served as assistant director of public health, in charge of maternity and child welfare in Madras. Virasinghe-Chinnappa was awarded the

Kaisar-i-Hind Medal The Kaisar-i-Hind Medal for Public Service in India was a medal awarded by the Emperor/Empress of India between 1900 and 1947, to "any person without distinction of race, occupation, position, or sex ... who shall have distinguished himself (o ...

, and subsequently the Bar to the Medal, for her services to maternity and child health. Virasinghe-Chinnappa died in 1980 in

Canberra, Australia Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city, and the eighth-largest Australian city b ...

Personal life

In 1921, Virasinghe-Chinnappa married her cousin, James Chelvanayagam Chinnappa. The couple had a son, James Chandrasekaran Virasinghe Chinnappa, and a daughter, Malati, who also became medical doctors.

Legacy

The Lucia Navamani Virasinghe Chinnappa Chapel is located at the hostel of St. John's College in

Jaffna Jaffna (, ; , ) is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka, Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a Jaffna Peninsula, peninsula of the same name. With a population o ...

, Sri Lanka.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Virasinghe-Chinnappa, Lucia 1894 births 1980 deaths Sri Lankan medical doctors Madras Medical College alumni Sri Lankan women