Thottakkattu Madhavi Amma was one of the founding members of the first (1925) legislative council of the erstwhile state of Kochi (also known as Cochin), in India. She was the daughter of Diwan Peshkar of Cochin and the poet Thottakattu Ikkavamma.Madhavi Amma was the first woman to be an elected member of any legislature in India. She was married to Mannathu Padmanabhan, the social reformer.
Madhavi Amma’s first marriage was with Vallabhanunni Eradi, a nobleman. The couple had two sons, Narayana Menon and Vallabhanunni Menon. Eradi passed away less than a decade after their marriage. After many years as single, Madhavi Amma met and married Mannathu Padmanabhan, the founder of Nair Service Society and noted Social Reformer. This was a remarriage for Mannathu Padmanabhan too. This meant that she had to shift her roots from Kochi to Travancore. She settled down in Changanassery, close to the Perunna Headquarters of NSS.
Madhavi Amma herself a writer of many books, wrote famous malayalam books like “Thathvachinda” etc.
