Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya was a freedom fighter, social activist, feminist, and politician from India in the early 20th century. She came from a Brahmin family in Mangalore but was influenced by reformist figures she met through her uncle. Kamaladevi became the first woman in India to run for political office and was involved in Gandhi's salt satyagraha movement. She advocated for improving women's education, ending child marriage, and recognizing women's unpaid domestic work. Throughout her career, Kamaladevi promoted feminism and women's rights, even opposing male leaders like Gandhi at times. She made significant contributions to India's cultural institutions and continued her activism internationally until her

1. KAMALADEVI CHATTOPADHYAYA
A Radical Reformer……

2. A freedom fighter, actor, social activist, art enthusiast,
politician and free-thinking feminist all rolled into one,
Kamaladevi’s contributions to India are staggeringly
diverse.

3. Born on April 3, 1903 into a Saraswat Brahmin family in
Mangalore, Kamaladevi was the fourth and youngest
daughter of Ananthaya Dhareshwar ( a district collector
in South Kanara district of the then-Madras Presidency)
and his wife Girijamma.
Early life….

4. Kamaladevi’s early childhood was
dotted by a succession of tragedies.
Lost her father and sibling.
So Kamaladevi grew up at the home of her maternal
uncle who was a notable social reformer. He was often
visited by political luminaries and public figures, like
Gopalkrishna Gokhale, Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru, Mahadev
Govind Ranade, Srinivasa Sastri, Annie Besant and
Pandita Ramabai.

5. Kamaladevi’s interactions with these eminent personalities sowed the seeds
of political consciousness in her mind when she was still a young girl.
However, it was her educated mother and enterprising grandmother who left
the deepest impression on her mind. It was from them that she inherited her
independent streak and lifelong love for books.
She got married to Harindranath Chattopadhyay
brother of Sarojini Naidu

6. Kamaladevi earned the unique distinction of becoming
the first woman in India to run for political office.
Inspired by Irish-Indian suffragette Margaret Cousins, the
founder of All India Women’s Conference (AIWC), she
competed for a seat in the Madras Legislative Assembly
and lost by a mere 55 votes.
Political Career

7. By campaigning for improving the quality in
women’s education, she also planted the seed for
what later became the Lady Irwin College in New
Delhi.
An ardent feminist, Kamaladevi also pressed for a uniform civil code
as a means to promote gender justice, worked hard for the
prevention of child marriage and emphasised on the need to
consider women’s unpaid household labour an economic activity.

8. In 1930, Kamaladevi participated enthusiastically
in Gandhi’s Salt Satyagraha movement, even
entering the Bombay Stock Exchange to sell
packets of ‘freedom’ salt and was sentenced to a
prison term for violation of the salt laws.

9. Kamaladevi’s visibility as a participant and her
forthright assertiveness helped draw hundreds
of women as volunteers. In 1936, she became
president of the Congress Socialist Party,
working alongside Ram Manohar Lohia and
Jayaprakash Narayan.

10. However, it was feminism that remained closest to her
heart. Through her long involvement in the freedom
movement, she never shied away from opposing her own
colleagues if they infringed on or ignored women’s rights,
even if they were veterans like Motilal Nehru, C.
Rajagopalachari and Mahatma Gandhi.
In fact, when Gandhi had opposed the inclusion of
women in the salt satyagraha, she had spoken out
against this decision.

11. In 1939, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay
travelled to Denmark to attend a
conference about women’s rights and
was in England when World War II
broke out. She immediately began
travelling to different countries to
highlight India’s situation and drum
up support for India’s nationalist
movement.

12. A rare woman whose vision gifted India
so many of its iconic cultural institutions,
Kamaladevi passed away on October 29,
1988, at the age of 85. As Indian
President R. Venkataraman said on her
death, it is difficult to prefix the word
‘late’ to Kamaladevi’s name, because
“hers was, and will always be a palpable
presence.”

13. Presentation by,