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Vai. Mu. Kothainayaki Ammal

(1901 – 1960) – (Tamilnadu)

Vaithamanithi Mudumbai Kothainayaki Ammal (Aged 59) was born on December 1, 1901, in Nirvalur, Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, India. She was a Tamil writer, novelist, and journalist, remembered as the first woman to occupy the editorial board of a Tamil magazine. She wrote 115 books and published a monthly Tamil magazine named Jaganmohini. Kothainayaghi was the first female writer in Tamil to write a detective novel.

Despite having no formal schooling and not knowing how to read or write at the time of her marriage, Kothai had a multifaceted personality and excelled in fields like public speaking, social service, and fiction writing. She was also a keen freedom fighter and hailed as the “Queen of Fictions” by her contemporaries. However, she was not well recognized in the books on the history of Tamil literature.

Her husband was insistent that Kothai be educated, and she learned the Telugu language from her mother-in-law. Though she could not read or write, she often sang verses from Thiruvaimozhi at home, which helped her become proficient in Tamil.

Kothainayaki encouraged celebrated singer Ms. D.K. Pattammal to give public performances, and Mahakavi Bharathiar was also a great fan of her singing. Young Kothai regularly sang for All India Radio and released several gramophone records.

In response to Mahatma Gandhi’s call in 1931, she participated in the Satyagraha agitation against toddy and liquor shops and was arrested by the police. The trial court found her guilty and awarded a prison sentence of six months, which increased to eight months when she refused to pay the imposed fine. In 1932, she was again sentenced for participating in the agitation against the Lodhi Commission and the stir for the boycott of foreign clothes.

While serving her sentences in prison, she continued her passion for writing novels, many of which contained true-life incidents of co-prisoners as themes and main plots. During her imprisonment, her husband managed Jaganmohini magazine.

After Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated in 1948, Kothainayaki started an association called Mahatmaji Seva Sangam to help poor and orphaned children. When the Congress government gave 10 acres of land in recognition of her public service and patriotism, she handed over all the land to Sri Vinobha Bhave for his Bhoodan movement. She passed away on February 20, 1960, in Tamil Nadu, India.