NorrisKruttschni at 04:40, 29 April 2026

2026-04-29T04:40:04Z

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{{Short description|Indian social activist (1891 - 1981)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = C. K. Revathi Amma
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth year|1891}}
| birth_place = [[Thalassery]], [[Malabar District]], [[British India]]
| death_place =
| death_date = {{death year and age|1981|1891}}
| alma_mater =
| occupation = Social activist
| movement =
| notable_works = ''Sahasra Poornima'' (autobiography)
| spouse =
| children =
| parents =
| awards = [[Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Biography and Autobiography]] (1980)
| influences =
| signature =
}}
'''C. K. Revathi Amma''' was an Indian activist and Malayalam language writer from [[Kerala]]. In 1980, she won the [[Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Biography and Autobiography]] for her autobiography ''Sahasra Poornima''.

==Biography==
C. K. Revathi Amma was born into a prominent [[Thiyya]] family in [[Thalassery]], [[Malabar District]], (present-day [[Kannur district]] of [[Kerala]]) in 1891.<ref name="keralaliterature">{{Cite web |last= |date=2020-10-13 |title=രേവതിയമ്മ സി.കെ. (സി.കെ.രേവതിയമ്മ) |url=https://keralaliterature.com/malayalam-writers-%E0%B4%AE%E0%B4%B2%E0%B4%AF%E0%B4%BE%E0%B4%B3%E0%B4%82-%E0%B4%8E%E0%B4%B4%E0%B5%81%E0%B4%A4%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%A4%E0%B5%81%E0%B4%95%E0%B4%BE%E0%B4%B0%E0%B5%8D/%E0%B4%B0%E0%B5%87%E0%B4%B5%E0%B4%A4%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%AF%E0%B4%AE%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%AE-%E0%B4%B8%E0%B4%BF-%E0%B4%95%E0%B5%86-%E0%B4%B8%E0%B4%BF-%E0%B4%95%E0%B5%86-%E0%B4%B0%E0%B5%87%E0%B4%B5%E0%B4%A4/ |access-date=2025-09-18 |website=Keralaliterature.com |language=ml}}</ref><ref name="thalassery">{{cite web |title=CK Revathy Amma |url=https://thalassery.info/personality.htm}}</ref> She was the daughter of Karai Damayanti, who was also a social activist.<ref name="thalassery"/> Her maternal grandfather Karayi Bapu and his brother Karayi Kutty were businessmen who had relations with English companies.<ref name="Hindu">{{Cite news |date=2015-12-03 |title=The calm after the storm |url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/ck-revathy-amma-on-the-women-of-her-times/article7944494.ece |access-date=2025-09-17 |work=The Hindu |language=en-IN |issn=0971-751X}}</ref> She was educated at Thalassery Sacred Heart School.<ref name="Kerala Women">{{cite web |title=സി.കെ. രേവതിയമ്മ |url=https://keralawomen.gov.in/ml/C.K.Revathy_Amma |website=Kerala Women |publisher=[[Government of Kerala]] |language=ml |date=26 March 2021}}</ref>

===Personal life and death===
Revathi Amma is married to Paidal, the police commissioner of French colony [[Mayyazhi]] (present-day [[Mahé, India]]).<ref name="samyukta">{{cite web |last1=G |first1=Devi |title=THE STRAY GOATS OF THE BAZAAR |url=http://samyukta.info/site/book/export/html/12 |website=samyukta.info |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108032042/http://samyukta.info/site/book/export/html/12 |archive-date=8 November 2012 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="shyamalan">{{Cite book |last=M.D |first=N. C. SHYAMALAN |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wYWVBQAAQBAJ&dq=c.k+revathy+amma&pg=PT236 |title=North Africa To North Malabar: AN ANCESTRAL JOURNEY |publisher=Notion Press |isbn=978-93-83416-64-6 |language=en}}</ref> After marriage she moved to Mayyazhi. Her son K. V. Padmanabhan was Indian ambassador to Thailand and Iran.<ref name="shyamalan" /> She died in 1981.<ref>{{cite web |title=രേവതി അമ്മ. സി.കെ. |url=https://keralaliterature.com/malayalam-writers-%e0%b4%ae%e0%b4%b2%e0%b4%af%e0%b4%be%e0%b4%b3%e0%b4%82-%e0%b4%8e%e0%b4%b4%e0%b5%81%e0%b4%a4%e0%b5%8d%e0%b4%a4%e0%b5%81%e0%b4%95%e0%b4%be%e0%b4%b0%e0%b5%8d/revathy-amma-c-k-%e0%b4%b0%e0%b5%87%e0%b4%b5%e0%b4%a4%e0%b4%bf-%e0%b4%85%e0%b4%ae%e0%b5%8d%e0%b4%ae-%e0%b4%b8%e0%b4%bf-%e0%b4%95%e0%b5%86/ |website=Keralaliterature.com |date=14 October 2017}}</ref>

==Activism==
Revathi Amma was a woman welfare activist. She worked as the president of the Mahila Mandiram, a centre for educating and uplifting economically backward women.<ref name="Hindu"/><ref name="Shakkeela">{{cite book |last1=Uv |first1=Shakkeela |title=Reading Sahasrapoornima(1977): A Glimpse of Thiyya Reformation under Colonialism |work=ISHAL PAITHRKAM |date=2023 |issue=33 |url=https://ojs.ishalpaithrkam.info/index.php/ishal/article/view/573/335 |language=en}}</ref> After her marriage, Revathi Amma moved to [[Mayyazhi]] and led the women's liberation movement there. She started her social activism in Mayyazhi by trying to liberate the women of Mayyazhi.<ref name="thalassery"/> In order to raise funds to help the people injured in warfor the French army, she conducted drama performances by girls in Mayyazhi.<ref name="Kavyasree">{{cite journal |last1=R |first1=Kavyasree |title=Entangled Histories: Gender and the Community Mobilisations of the Ezhavas in Colonial Kerala |journal=Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities |date=November 21, 2021 |volume=13 |issue=4 |url=https://rupkatha.com/V13/n4/v13n405.pdf}}</ref> She was also worked with the Red Cross Society in Mayyazhi.<ref name="Kavyasree"/>

[[Mahathma Gandhi]] had reached Mayazhi as part of his countrywide tour of the freedom struggle and to receive donations for his Harijan Welfare Fund. At that time, M. K. Menon, a staunch supporter of the [[Indian National Congress]] in Mayazhi, requested Revathi Amma to arrange a reception for Gandhiji and to persuade women to donate their jewellery to him.<ref name="Hindu"/> An active supporter of Indian freedom movement, she donated her daughter's chain and a pair of her own bangles to Gandhiji's Harijan Welfare Fund.<ref name="Hindu"/>

During the Thalassery riots, there was a rumor that the Thalassery Saidar Mosque would be attacked. Hearing this, at the ''Sahasra Poornima'' launch ceremony, being a Hindu, Revathi Amma sat in front of the mosque and said that the mosque could only be touched by stepping on her dead body.<ref name="Kerala Women"/> Even though she was well accepted as a social activist, her relatives were against that, and they even mockingly called her 'stray goat of the bazar'.<ref name="thalassery"/>

==Works==
Revathi Amma's first published novel was ''Randu Sahodarimaar'' [Two Sisters]. Her husband, who was a police commissioner, was initially not interested in writing or publishing this novel.<ref name="Hindu"/> She has also wrote many short stories and another novel titled ''Shobhana''.<ref name="shyamalan"/> Her autobiography ''Sahasra Poornima'' [completing thousands full moons] was published in 1977.<ref name="samyukta"/>

==Awards and honors==
In 1980, she won the [[Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award]] for her autobiography ''Sahasra Poornima''.<ref name="Kerala Women"/>

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award}}
{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Revathi Amma, C. K.}}
[[Category:1891 births]]
[[Category:1981 deaths]]
[[Category:Malayalam-language novelists]]
[[Category:Indian women's rights activists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian novelists]]
[[Category:Women writers from Kerala]]
[[Category:Activists from Kerala]]
[[Category:Novelists from Kerala]]
[[Category:People from Kannur district]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women novelists]]

C. K. Revathi Amma - Revision history

NorrisKruttschni at 04:40, 29 April 2026