Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay: Difference between revisions

| name = Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay

| image =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1903|04|03}}

| birth_place = [[Mangalore]], [[Madras Presidency]] (in present-day [[Karnataka]]), India

| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1988|10|29|1903|04|03}}

| death_place = [[Bombay]], [[Maharashtra]], India

| alma_mater =[[Queen Mary's College, Chennai|Queen Mary's College]], [[Bedford College (London)]]

| spouse = {{marriage|Krishna Rao|1917|1919}}<br />{{marriage|[[Harindranath Chattopadhyay]]|1923|1955}}

| children = Ramakrishna Chattopadhyay

| awards = {{nowrap|[[Ramon Magsaysay Award]] (1966)<br />[[Padma Bhushan]] (1955)<br />[[Padma Vibhushan]] (1987)}}

'''Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay''' (3 April 1903 – 29 October 1988) was an Indian [[social reformer]] and freedom activist. She was most remembered for her contribution to the [[Indian independence movement]]; for being the driving force behind the renaissance of Indian handicrafts, handlooms, and theatre in independent India; and for upliftment of the socio-economic standard of Indian women by pioneering the co-operation.

In 1974, she was awarded the [[List of Sangeet Natak Academy fellows|Sangeet Natak Academy Fellowship]], the highest honour conferred by the [[Sangeet Natak Academy]], India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sangeetnatak.gov.in/sna/fellowslist.htm |title=SNA: List of Sangeet Natak Academy ''Ratna Puraskar''winners (Academy Fellows) |publisher=Official website |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304023617/http://sangeetnatak.gov.in/sna/fellowslist.htm |archive-date= 4 March 2016 }}</ref> She was conferred with [[Padma Bhushan]] and [[Padma Vibhushan]] by Government of India in 1955 and 1987 respectively.

Born on 3 April 1903 in [[Mangalore|Mangaluru]], Kamaladevi was the fourth and youngest daughter of her parents. Her father, Ananthayya Dhareshwar, was the [[District Collector]] of Mangalore, and her mother, Girijabai, from whom she inherited an independent streak, belonged to a land-owning Chitrapur Saraswat brahmana family from [[coastal Karnataka]]. Kamaladevi's paternal grandmother was well-versed in the ancient Indian epics and [[purana]]s, and Girijabai was also well-educated, although mostly home-tutored. Together, their presence in the household gave Kamaladevi a firm grounding and provided benchmarks to respect for her intellect as well as her voice, something that she came to be known for in the future.

Around this time she became concerned at the possibility that the introduction of Western methods of factory-based mass production in India as part of Nehru's vision for India's development would affect traditional artisans, especially women in the unorganised sectors. She set up a series of crafts museums to hold and archive India's indigenous arts and crafts that served as a storehouse for indigenous know how. This included the Theater Crafts Museum in Delhi.