Rosamma Punnoose (Aged 100), an Indian independence activist, politician, and lawyer, was born on May 12, 1913. She holds several firsts in Indian politics, including being the first person to be sworn in as a member of the Kerala Legislative Assembly and the first MLA in India to lose her seat following a court order. In 1958, she was also the first person to be elected in the first-ever by-election to the assembly.
Punnoose graduated with a degree in law from the Madras Law College and began her political career by joining the Travancore State Congress in 1938, inspired by her elder sister Accamma Cherian, who was also an independence activist. Both sisters were imprisoned at Central Prison, Poojappura, by the British in 1939.
After her release from prison three years later, Rosamma married P.T. Punnoose, a leader of the Communist Party of India (CPI), in 1946, despite objections from her family and community. Rosamma’s family supported the Indian National Congress and opposed her marriage to a communist. P.T. Punnoose was also wanted by the police and authorities who were conducting a crackdown against communists at the time.
The couple was married at a church in Cochin with a special letter of consent from the Pope, as with all Christian weddings between communist couples at the time. P.T. Punnoose had to be brought to the church quietly to evade police.
Rosamma was the first person to be sworn in as a member of the Assembly and also administered the oath of office to other legislators, becoming the first pro tem Speaker of the Assembly. She was the chairperson of the Kerala Women’s Commission from 1993 until 1998, when she retired. She passed away on December 28, 2013.
Rosamma Punnoose
(1913 – 2013) – (Kerala)
Rosamma Punnoose (Aged 100), an Indian independence activist, politician, and lawyer, was born on May 12, 1913. She holds several firsts in Indian politics, including being the first person to be sworn in as a member of the Kerala Legislative Assembly and the first MLA in India to lose her seat following a court order. In 1958, she was also the first person to be elected in the first-ever by-election to the assembly.
Punnoose graduated with a degree in law from the Madras Law College and began her political career by joining the Travancore State Congress in 1938, inspired by her elder sister Accamma Cherian, who was also an independence activist. Both sisters were imprisoned at Central Prison, Poojappura, by the British in 1939.
After her release from prison three years later, Rosamma married P.T. Punnoose, a leader of the Communist Party of India (CPI), in 1946, despite objections from her family and community. Rosamma’s family supported the Indian National Congress and opposed her marriage to a communist. P.T. Punnoose was also wanted by the police and authorities who were conducting a crackdown against communists at the time.
The couple was married at a church in Cochin with a special letter of consent from the Pope, as with all Christian weddings between communist couples at the time. P.T. Punnoose had to be brought to the church quietly to evade police.
Rosamma was the first person to be sworn in as a member of the Assembly and also administered the oath of office to other legislators, becoming the first pro tem Speaker of the Assembly. She was the chairperson of the Kerala Women’s Commission from 1993 until 1998, when she retired. She passed away on December 28, 2013.
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