![]() A man with a keen interest in the natural sciences, Janaki’s father would correspond regularly with scholars of the time and maintain descriptive notes about his developing garden. This is the story of an extraordinary Indian woman who braved a largely patriarchal, ultra-conservative society to fulfill her academic dreams.ĮK Janaki Ammal was born in Tellichery (now Thallassery) in Kerala on November 4, 1897. Her father, Dewan Bahadur EK Krishnan, was a sub-judge in what was then the Madras Presidency. Yet, at a time when the country is focussing on educating the girl child, Janaki Ammal’s contribution to Indian botanical research remains mostly unknown outside academic circles. There is even a flower named after her, a delicate bloom in pure white called Magnolia Kobus Janaki Ammal. honoris causa) by her alma mater, the University of Michigan. And that was in 1931!Ī pioneering botanist and cytogeneticist, Janaki Ammal is credited with putting sweetness in India’s sugarcane varieties, speaking against the hydro-electric project in Kerala’s Silent Valley and the phenomenal study of chromosomes of thousands of species of flowering plants. She also remains one of the few Asian women to be conferred a honorary doctorate (DSc. In an age when most Indian women didn’t make it past high school, Janaki Ammal didn’t just obtain a PhD at one of America’s finest public universities, she went on to make seminal contributions to her field. One of the first women scientists to receive the Padma Shri way back in 1977, Edavaleth Kakkat Janaki Ammal lived a life only a handful of other women of her time lived.
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