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{{short description|Indian politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2019}}

[[File:Guests of a State Dinner for President Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan of India.jpg|thumb|Menon ''(front row, far left)'' attending a state dinner at the White House, 3 June 1963.]]
'''Lakshmi N. Menon''' (27 March 1899<ref name="RS">''Rajya Sabha members biographical sketches 1952 – 2003''. rajyasabha.nic.in.</ref> – 30 November 1994<ref>''IASSI Quarterly'', Volume 15. Indian Association of Social Science Institutions, 1996.</ref>) was an Indian [[Indian independence movement|freedom fighter]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/2000/04/02/stories/13020615.htm |title=Strong voice, solid ideas |first=C.S. |last=Lakshmi |newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|date=2 March 2000|access-date=5 March 2016}}{{dead link|date=April 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> and politician. She was Minister of State from 1962 to 1966.<ref name="WMotRS"/>

== Early life ==
Born in [[Trivandrum]], she was the child of Rama Varma Thampan and Madhavikutty Amma. In 1930, she married Professor V. K. Nandan Menon, who later became vice-chancellor of the [[University of Kerala|University of Travancore]] (1950–1951)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.way2universities.com/univofkerala.php |title=University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram|publisher=way2universities.com |access-date=6 March 2016}}</ref> and of [[Patna University]], as well as director for the [[Indian Institute of Public Administration]].

== Career ==
She was a Rajya Sabha member from 1952 to 1966.<ref name="RS"/> She served in the Ministry of External Affairs as parliamentary secretary from 1952 to 1957, as deputy minister from 1957 to 1962 and as Minister of State to 1966.<ref name="WMotRS">''Women Members of the Rajya Sabha''. Rajya Sabha Secretariat. New Delhi, 2003.</ref> Retiring from political service in 1967, she turned to social work and also to writing, authoring among other things a book on Indian women for the [[Oxford Pamphlets on Indian Affairs]] series, published by [[Oxford University Press]]. She helped to found the [[Federation of University Women]] in India.<ref name="Bālā Sharma 1986 p.74 ">{{cite book | last1=Bālā | first1=U. | last2=Sharma | first2=A. | title=Indian Women Freedom Fighters, 1857–1947 | publisher=Manohar | year=1986 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cSg-AAAAMAAJ | language=de | access-date=2020-07-31 | page=74|quote=She was the Founder – member of the All – India Women ' s Conference , and of the Federation of University Women . }}</ref> In recognition of her services, she was awarded the [[Padma Bhushan]] in 1957 and she was the second [[Malayali]] to receive the award.<ref name="Padma Awards">{{cite web|url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |title=Padma Awards |publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India |date=2015 |access-date=21 July 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015193758/http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |archive-date=15 October 2015 }}</ref>

Menon dedicated her active life after politics for the cause of the nation. She served the All India Women's Conference as president and patron for many years. She was the vice president of All India Prohibition Council along with [[Morarji Desai]]. In 1988, she along with [[A. P. Udhayabhanu]] and Johnson J. Edayaranmula established Alcohol & Drug Information Centre (ADIC)-India and served as its president till her death. She also served as president of the All India Committee for the Eradication of Illiteracy Among Women and as chairman of the [[Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trust]] from 1972 to 1985.<ref>''Annual Report 2014-15''. Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trust.</ref>

Lakshmi Menon's tenure as Minister of State in [[Nehru|Nehru Government]] was instrumental in smoothing the bureaucratic procedure involved in setting up [[Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station]] at Trivandrum.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Remembering the guiding light|url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/amp/lifestyle/viral-and-trending/301119/remembering-the-guiding-light.html|access-date=2020-10-26|website=www.deccanchronicle.com}}</ref>

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book|first1=Shobana|last1=Ranade|first2=Sushila|last2=Nayar|author-link2=Sushila Nayyar|editor1-first=Kamla|editor-link=Kamla Mankekar|editor1-last=Mankekar|title=Women Pioneers in India's Renaissance|chapter=Lakshmi N. Menon (1899–1994)|publisher=National Book Trust India|location=New Delhi|year=2003|isbn=9788123737669}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://maddy06.blogspot.com/2016/01/remembering-lakshmi-n-menon-lady.html Biographical details from the blog ''Maddy's Ramblings'' (2016)]
* [https://www.facebook.com/arunima.menon/posts/10158753603660985 Personal Reminiscences of great niece (2021)]
{{commons category|Lakshmi N. Menon}}

{{PadmaBhushanAwardRecipients 1954–59}}
{{Padma Award winners of Kerala}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Menon, Lakshmi N.}}
[[Category:1899 births]]
[[Category:1994 deaths]]
[[Category:Malayali politicians]]
[[Category:Politicians from Thiruvananthapuram]]
[[Category:Graduate Women International]]
[[Category:Union deputy ministers of India]]
[[Category:Union ministers of state of India]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in public affairs]]
[[Category:Rajya Sabha members from Bihar]]
[[Category:Malayalam-language writers]]
[[Category:Indian National Congress politicians from Kerala]]
[[Category:Women in Kerala politics]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian politicians]]
[[Category:Women union ministers of state of India]]
[[Category:Women members of the Rajya Sabha]]

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Lakshmi N. Menon - Revision history

->SdkbBot at 09:22, 4 January 2022