V. Vasanthi Devi, former Vice Chancellor of Manonmaniam Sundaranar University and former chairperson of the Tamil Nadu State Commission for Women, passed away in Chennai on Friday following a sudden heart attack. She was 87.
Prof. Vasanthi Devi was the first woman vice chancellor of a university in Tamil Nadu, a post that she held for two consecutive terms from 1992 to 1998. After her retirement, she was a member of the State Planning Commission (SPC) before being appointed as the Chairperson of the Tamil Nadu State Commission for Women (TNSCW) in 2002.
A high point in her long list of achievements was when she contested against AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa in the R.K. Nagar constituency in 2016 on the VCK symbol as the common candidate of the DMDK-led People’s Welfare Front. Interestingly, the contest pitted her against a chief minister whose government appointed her as the Vice Chancellor, nominated her to the SPC and then to the TNSCW.
Born in 1938 in Dindigul, Prof. Vasanthi Devi came from an illustrious family. She was the granddaughter of Vengal Chakkarai Chettiar, a freedom fighter, trade unionist and Christian theologist who was the president of the All India Trade Union Congress between 1954 and 1957.
