Violet Alva
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Violet Hari Alva | |
|---|---|
 Joachim and Violet Alva on a 2008 stamp of India | |
| 2nd Deputy Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha | |
| In office 19 April 1962 – 16 November 1969 | |
| Chairman | Zakir Husain |
| Preceded by | S. V. Krishnamoorthy Rao |
| Succeeded by | B. D. Khobragade |
| Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha | |
| In office 3 April 1952 – 2 April 1960 | |
| Constituency | Karnataka |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Violet Hari 24 April 1908 |
| Died | 20 November 1969 (aged 61) New Delhi, India |
| Cause of death | Cerebral hemorrhage |
| Party | Indian National Congress |
| Spouse | |
| Occupation |
|
| Known for | First Woman Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha |
Violet Hari Alva (24 April 1908 – 20 November 1969) was an Indian lawyer, journalist and politician, and Deputy Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha, and member of the Indian National Congress (INC).[1][2][3] She was the first woman lawyer to appear before a High Court in India and the first to preside over the Rajya Sabha.
Alva was born Violet Hari on 24 April 1908 in Ahmedabad. She was the eighth of nine children. Violet's father, Reverend Laxman Hari, was an Indian pastor of the Church of England. Having lost both her parents when she was sixteen, her older siblings provided for her education until her matriculation at Bombay's Clare Road Convent. She graduated from St. Xavier's College, Bombay and Government Law College. For a while thereafter, she was a professor of English at the Indian Women's University, Bombay.
Career
In 1944, she was the first woman advocate in India, to argue a case before a full High Court. In 1944, Alva also started a women’s magazine, The Begum, later renamed as Indian Women. From 1946 to 1947, she served as the deputy chairman of Bombay Municipal Corporation. In 1947, Alva served as an Honorary Magistrate in Mumbai; and from 1948 to 1954, she served as the President of the Juvenile Court. She was actively involved with numerous social organisations such as Young Women’s Christian Association, the Business and Professional Women’s Association and the International Federation of Women Lawyers. She was also the first woman to be elected to the Standing Committee of the All India Newspaper Editors Conference in 1952.[4]
In 1952, Alva was elected to the Rajya Sabha, the Upper House of the Indian Parliament, where she made significant contributions to family planning, rights of animals subjected to research and defence strategy, especially the naval sector. She cautioned the government to be careful when dealing with foreign capital and supported linguistic states.[5]
From 1955, Alva was secretariat and preparatory committee member of the Asian Solidarity Committee, conceived of by the World Peace Council. The Committee, which later expanded into the Afro-Asian People's Solidarity Organisation, brought together representatives from India, Burma, China, Japan, Pakistan, North Vietnam, South Vietnam, North Korea, Syria, the Soviet Union and more to campaign against imperialism, weapons of mass destruction, all forms of discrimination and for solidarity, sovereignty, peace and self-determination.
After the second Indian General Election in 1957, Alva became Deputy Minister of State for Home Affairs.
In 1962, Alva became the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, thereby becoming the first female to preside over the Rajya Sabha in its history. She served two consecutive terms in Rajya Sabha. Her first term commenced on 19 April 1962 and continued until 2 April 1966. Her second term began with her election to the office of Deputy Chairman on 7 April 1966 and she held the position until 16 November 1969.[5][6]
In 1969, Alva resigned after Indira Gandhi declined to back her as Vice-President of India.
