Annie Mascarene was a Kerala-based liberation fighter and politician. She was one of the state’s first renowned female legislators. For the unity of Kerala’s liberation fight, she was closely linked with Akkamma Cherian and Pattom Thanu Pillai. During British administration, she was imprisoned multiple times for political action. She served in the first Lok Sabha of independent India, where she was elected from the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat. She made history by being the first woman to win an election as an independent candidate from a major constituency. She is Kerala’s first female Member of Parliament. In this blog we are going to tell you the Annie Mascarene Bio (Politician), so read this full blog to get the complete information.
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Early Life:
Annie Mascarene was born on 6th June 1902 at Trivandrum into a family of Latin Catholics. Her father, Gabriel Mascarene, was a Travancore State government officer. She went on to become a lecturer in Sri Lanka after earning a double M.A. in history and economics from the Colleges for Arts and Law in Trivandrum. She obtained a legal degree after returning to Trivandrum. Between 1948 to 1952, she was a member of the Travancore-Cochin Legislative Assembly, where she temporarily served as Minister in Charge of Health and Power.
Career
In 1925, she earned a double master’s degree in history and economics from Maharajas College in Travancore, and after returning from a teaching stint in Ceylon at the Maharaja’s Colleges for Arts and Law in Trivandrum, she earned a law degree. Mascarene was a member of the Travancore State Congress Working Committee and was one of the first women elected to the Travancore State Congress. She was one of the leaders of the Travancore State’s aspirations for independence and merger with the Indian nation, alongside Akkamma Cherian and Pattom Thanu Pillai. She was imprisoned at several periods between 1939 and 1947 as a result of her political involvement.
In the Indian general election of 1951, Mascarene was elected to the Lok Sabha as an First independent candidate from the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat. She was Kerala’s first female Member of Parliament, and one of just ten women elected to the House in those elections.
Annie Mascarene died in 1963 and is buried in Thiruvananthapuram’s Pattoor cemetery. In September 2013, Vice President Hamid Ansari inaugurated a bronze monument of Annie Mascarene at the Annie Mascarene Square in Vazhuthacaud, Thiruvananthapuram.
Membership
Mascarene had previously served in the Travancore-Cochin Legislative Assembly from 1948 to 1952, as well as a brief stint as Minister in Charge of Health and Power in the Parur T K Narayana Pillai Ministry from 1949 to 1950.
Contribution to Constitution Making:
In the Constituent Assembly, Mascarene represented the Princely State of Travancore and the Cochin Union. She addressed the question of federalism in the Assembly.
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Later Contributions:
As an independent candidate, Mascarene was elected to the first Lok Sabha. She was the first woman elected to the Lok Sabha from Kerala, where she highlighted concerns about women’s underrepresentation in politics. Her political career suffered a setback following her defeat in the 1957 Lok Sabha elections.
