india

Updated: Jul 30, 2019 12:24 IST

Muthulakshmi Reddi was a former Indian educator, lawmaker, surgeon, and a social reformer. She is known for her crusade against social inequality, gender-based inequality and her efforts to provide adequate universal healthcare to the public.

Muthulakshmi Reddi has many firsts to her credit. She was the first woman to work as a surgeon in a government hospital in Tamil Nadu. She joined the Madras legislative Council later, becoming the first woman in British India to achieve this distinction. Muthulakshmi Reddy took up various social service activities and became the first woman legislator of Tamil Nadu assembly.

She was the first female student of Madras Medical College.

She was born in 1886, in Pudukottai princely state. She shunned the idea of an early marriage and registered herself for medical school.

Muthulakshmi Reddi fought social inequality and supported Mahatma Gandhi’s fight for Indian independence.

She is also the founder of the Adyar Cancer Institute in Chennai.

Google has designed a doodle to celebrate her 133rd birthday.