Mavis Dunn Lyngdoh (1906-1962) was an Indian politician. In 1939, she joined the government of Muhammed Saadulah in Assam and became the first female cabinet minister in the Indian subcontinent. She was also the first Khasi woman to become a MLA in the first undivided Assam Legislative Assembly in 1937. She died in 1962 at the age of 56.
Wiki/Biography
Mavis Patricia Dunn Mawlong was born on Monday 4 June 1906 in East Bengal and Mairang, Assam, British India (now Meghala, India Yabang) (now 56 years old). Mavis joined the Welsh Church Girls’ High School, Shillong, where she received her early education. In 1917, she attended Calcutta Girls’ Free School and subsequently St. Thomas’ School, Calcutta. After completing his matriculation examinations as a private student at the University of Calcutta in 1922, Mavis attended Diocesan College, where he obtained a diploma in the Intermediate Literary Course in 1924 and a Bachelor of Arts degree with distinction in 1927. In 1930, she enrolled at the University of Calcutta where she earned a bachelor’s degree in teaching and a bachelor’s degree in law in 1933.
family
Mavis Dunn Lyngdoh belongs to the Moron clan, a matrilineal Khasi clan in the northeastern Indian state of Meghalaya.
other relatives
Mavis Dunn Lyngdoh’s uncle, Edward W. Dunn, was an OBE.
Parents and siblings
Her father’s name is H. Dunn. Her mother, Ka Helibon Lyngdoh (or Kong Helibon Mawlong), was a successful businesswoman. She has two sisters.
husband and children
Mavis Dunn Lyngdoh never married.
religion
Mavis Dunn Lyngdoh was of the Presbyterian faith, a form of Protestant Christianity.
Profession
Mavis Dunn Lyngdoh’s political career began in 1937 when she contested the Indian provincial elections from Shillong constituency and won a seat in the Assam Legislative Assembly as an independent candidate. In 1939, Mewes was invited to join the government of Sir Syed Muhammad Sadulla in Assam. Later, she became a Cabinet Minister in the Sadura government, becoming the first woman to hold the position of Cabinet Minister in India. AS Mawlong, Secretary-General of the Mawlong Tribe, said in an interview:
In 1939, she was promoted to Minister of Assam. Therefore, we can say that in the entire Northeast, she was the first woman minister after Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, the second woman minister in India. India before independence 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 allowing nurses trained in private nursing colleges to be employed in government hospitals. She also looks after the registration, industrial and cooperative departments. Mewes’ political career ended after her defeat in the 1946 provincial election. After independence, Mavis Dunn Lyngdoh served as a distinguished member of the Assam Government’s Advisory Committee on District Council Operations. After retiring from politics, she lectured at various educational institutions in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Photos taken by Mavis Dunn Lyngdoh during the public meeting
die
Mavis Dunn Lyngdoh died in 1962 at the age of 56 in India’s North East Frontier Agency (NEFA), now part of the state of Meghalaya.
Facts/Trivia
- Mavis Dunn Lyngdoh is also known by her other name Kong Mavis.
- Mavis Dunn Lyngdoh was the first Khasi woman to drive.
- Mavis Dunn Lyngdoh became the first woman qualified to practice law in Meghalaya.
- Mavis Dunn Lyngdoh was a member of the committee that negotiated with the British and Indian governments in 1946 for the formation of the Khasi Federation.
- According to multiple sources, Mavis Dunn Lyngdoh met Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in Mumbai after India merged Meghalaya , explains the workings of the Meghalaya Emirate to protect the Emirate from being destroyed like other princely states.
- In 2004, the Meghalaya government named a 700-meter stretch of road connecting Mawkhar to Motphran and Iewduh (or Bara Bazaar) in Shillong after Mavis Dunn Mawlong
- In 2022, Meghalaya Legislative Assembly Speaker Metbah Lyngdoh wrote to Chief Minister Conrad Kongkal Sangma urging him to erect a statue of Mavis Dunn Lyngdoh in her honor. In a letter to the chief minister, he wrote:
The nation remembers all the unsung heroes during celebrations to mark the 75th anniversary of Independence. Mavis Dunn Lyngdoh is nothing less than a hero and deserves recognition for her contribution to the health sector in the North East region. She was also a role model for women from marginalized communities in independent India and left a mark in public life. I would like to ask the Government to consider placing a full-size statue of the late Mavis Dunn Lyngdoh in the State Central Library in recognition of her achievements and service to our people. “
- Hamlet Bareh wrote a book about her, published in 1989.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education