Ayyathan Janaki Ammal

Dr. Ayyathan Janaki Ammal (1878–1945) was the first female doctor in Kerala and also in Malabar region which was an administrative district of Madras Presidency during British rule in India. She was also the first female doctor from the Thiyya community and also hailed with the title as the first Malayali lady doctor and surgeon. and the sister to Ayyathan Gopalan. a social reformer of Kerala, the founder of the Sugunavardhini movement (1900), Depressed Classes Mission (1909) and the leader and propagandist of Brahmo Samaj in Kerala.

Biography

She was born into "Ayyathan" family (aristocratic Thiyya family of Malabar) at Telicherry, the daughter of Ayyathan Chandhan and Kallat Chiruthammal.

She studied at the Telicherry Elementary School, Mission High School and moved to convent school, Calicut in 1897. She then joined Madras Medical College in 1902 on scholarship and passed the LMP examination (sub assistant surgeon) in 1907 with the highest rank and with honors. That same year she joined government service at Chenkelpet government hospital where her career started as an assistant surgeon and physician. She came back to Calicut to work at the Leprosy hospital where she worked for years before leaving back to Madras where she joined the Trichy government hospital.

Janaki Ammal was service-oriented and was a social activist. She had worked with the Sugunavardhini movement to uplift women and people from the downtrodden sections of society. Along with her brother Dr.Ayyathan Gopalan, she conducted free medical camps while working at Calicut together with Kallat Kausallya Ammal(wife of Dr.Gopalan) and Dr.Alummoottil Mandhakinibai (Ayathan Gopalan's daughter-in-law)

Janaki Ammal is considered a pioneer in fighting for women's rights in the Sugunavardhini movement.

She died in 1945.

Bibliography

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