Mavis Dunn Lyngdoh (1906–1962) was an Indian politician. She became the first woman cabinet minister in the Indian subcontinent when she joined Muhammad Saadullah’s government in Assam in 1939. She was also the first woman from the Khasi tribe to become an MLA in the first undivided Assam Legislative Assembly in 1937. He died in 1962. At the age of 56.
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Wiki/Biography
Mavis Patricia Dunn Mawlong was born on Monday, 4 June 1906 (aged 56 at death) in Mairang, East Bengal and Assam Province, British India (now Meghalaya, India). Mavis attended the Welsh Mission Girls High School, Shillong, where she received her early education. In 1917, she joined the Calcutta Girls’ Free School after which she joined St. Thomas’s School, Calcutta. After completing his matriculation at the University of Calcutta as a private student in 1922, Mavis joined the Diocesan College, where he earned a Diploma in the Intermediate Course of Arts in 1924 and a Bachelor of Arts degree with distinction in 1927. of. In 1930, he enrolled. Calcutta University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in teaching after which he earned a bachelor’s degree in law in 1933.
Family
Mavis Dunn Lyngdoh was from the Mawlong clan, a matrilineal clan of the Khasi tribe, an ethnic group of Meghalaya in north-eastern India.
other relatives
Mavis Dunn Lyngdoh’s uncle, Edward W. Dunn was a Member of the Order of the British Empire.
parents and siblings
His father’s name was H Dunn. His mother, Ka Helibon Lyngdoh (or Kong Helibon Mawlong), was a successful businesswoman. He had two sisters.
husband and children
Mavis Dunn Lyngdoh never married.
Religion
Mavis Dunn Lyngdoh followed Presbyterianism, a form of Protestant Christianity.
livelihood
Mavis Dunn Lyngdoh’s career as a politician began in 1937 when she contested the Indian provincial elections from the Shillong constituency and won a seat in the Assam Legislative Assembly as an independent candidate. In 1939, Mavis was invited to join the government of Sir Syed Muhammad Saadullah in Assam. Later, she became a cabinet minister in Saadullah’s government and became the first woman in India to become a cabinet minister. During an interview AS Mawlong, general secretary of the Mawlong clan, said,
He was promoted as minister in Assam province in 1939. Therefore, we can say that in the entire North East, she was the first woman minister, and the second woman minister in the country after Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit. Independent India in 1937.
Mavis Dunn Lyngdoh served as the Health Minister of Assam from 1939 to 1945. As Health Minister, she not only established the Assam Red Cross Society (ARCS) but also passed a resolution which allowed nurses trained in private nursing colleges to find employment in government hospitals. He also held the registration, industries and cooperative departments. Mewis ended his political career after his defeat in the 1946 provincial election. After independence, Mavis Dun Lyngdoh served as a distinguished member of the Advisory Council of the Assam State Government for the functioning of the District Councils. After retiring from politics, he lectured at various educational institutions in the US and Britain.
A photograph of Mavis Dunn Lyngdoh, taken during a public meeting
Death
Mavis Dunn Lyngdoh died, aged 56, in 1962, in The North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA), India (now a part of Meghalaya).
Facts/General Knowledge
- Mavis Dun Lyngdoh was also known by her other name, Kong Mavis.
- Mavis Dunn Lyngdoh was the first woman from the Khasi tribe to drive a car.
- Mavis Dunn Lyngdoh became the first woman in Meghalaya to qualify to practice law.
- Mavis Dunn Lyngdoh was part of the committee that negotiated with the British and Indian governments for the formation of the Union of Khasi States in 1946.
- According to several sources, after India annexed Meghalaya, Mavis Dunn Lyngdoh met Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in Bombay to save the major princely states in Meghalaya from being collapsed like other princely states.
- In 2004, the Government of Meghalaya named a 700 meter long road connecting Mawkhar to Motphran and Iwduh (or Bara Bazar) in Shillong after Mavis Dun Mawlong.
- In 2022, Speaker of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly Metbah Lyngdoh wrote a letter to Chief Minister Conrad Kongkal Sangma, urging him to honor Mavis Dun Lyngdoh by erecting a statue in her memory. In his letter to the Chief Minister he wrote,
While celebrating 75 years of independence, the country is remembering all the unsung heroes. Mavis Dunn Lyngdoh is no less than a hero and her contribution to the health sector in the North Eastern region deserves recognition. She was also a role model for women from marginalized communities in independent India and for making their mark in public life. I would like to request the Government to consider installing a full-size statue of Late Mavis Dunn Lyngdoh in the premises of the State Central Library to honor her achievement and service to our people.
- Hamlet Bareh wrote a book on him which was published in 1989.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn