Jothi Venkatachalam


Jothi Venkatachalam was an Indian politician who served as Governor of Kerala and Member of the Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu.
Venkatachalam was born in Rangoon in October 1917. She was elected to the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly from Egmore constituency as an Indian National Congress candidate in 1962 election, and as an Indian National Congress candidate from Srirangam constituency in 1971 election. She briefly served as a minister for Prohibition and Women's Welfare in the C. Rajagopalachari cabinet between 10 October 1953 and 12 April 1954.
She was also the minister for public health in K. Kamaraj's cabinet between 1962 and 1963. Later she served as the Governor of Kerala from 14 October 1977 to 26 October 1982.
In 1974 Jothi Venkatachalam was conferred with a 'Padma Shri' award for her dedicated contribution in the field of Public Affairs.
She was killed in a road accident, and subsequently Atkinson Road in Chennai was named after her. Her husband a famous businessman Vencatachellum was the Sherrif of Madras.