The trailblazing first woman lawmaker of India

Excellent history share from the BBC shipmate PO1 William "Chip" Nagel

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel: Dear Shipmate, Chip, my late/Adored father, the Hon. James Sloane Higgins, was a Federal Administrative Law Judge. Prior to that, my late/Beloved father was a civil defense attorney.

Dr Muthulakshmi Reddy was the driving force behind the establishment of one of the biggest cancer institute in India. She is one of the unsung heroes of the 19th century.

Born in 1886 in a middle-class family in Tamil Nadu, Muthulakshmi got her early education in a co-education school; she passed her matriculation through private studies and was coached by her own father. Despite stiff opposition from the society, Muthulakshmi became the first girl student to be admitted into a Men's college, which was Maharajas College, Pudukottai.

She was also the first and only woman candidate in the Medical College in 1907. She also became the first woman House surgeon in the Government Maternity and Ophthalmic Hospital.

As the only woman doctor, Muthulakshmi had a roaring practice. She married Dr Sundera Reddi and gave birth to two sons.