When Dr Mary Poonen joined the newly opened Women's and Children's Hospital in Thycaud in 1917 as Kerala’s first woman physician, her salary was Rs 425. At that time, a school teacher earned less than Rs 10, wrote professor Robin Jeffery in his book Politics, Women and Well-Being: How Kerala became ‘a model’. Mary, who later became the Durbar physician in Travancore, is credited as the first woman legislator in the country. September 23 marks the centenary of her rare achievement.

When Sethu Lakshmi Bayi became the regent of Travancore, Mary Poonen was appointed head of the medical department and nominated as the member of the Sree Mulam Praja Sabha. She took oath as the member of the Legislative Assembly on September 23, 1924.

The Kerala Legislative Assembly, in its upcoming session, will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first woman legislator. A documentary, Dr Mary Poonen Lukose: Charitram Piranna Kaikal, produced by Sabha TV, will be screened from October 4, the first day of the 12th session.  

Trailblazer

True to the title of her memoir, Dr Mary Poonen was a 'trailblazer' in many ways. She was the first woman in Kerala to get a BA degree in 1909, medicine in 1915, performed the first caesarean surgery in the state in 1920, and became the first woman surgeon general in the country in 1938. When she became the first legislator, Madras Mail, an English newspaper published in erstwhile Madras, reported it under the title 'Feminism in Travancore', mentioned historian J Devika on her website 'Swatantryavaadini'.

In the book Ivory Throne, historian Manu S Pillai wrote that Dr Mary Poonen was deputed to supervise the pregnancy of Sethu Lekshmi Bayi, who had undergone multiple miscarriages in the past. On December 30, 1923, a premature and underweight baby girl was born to Sethu Lakshmi Bayi under the supervision of Dr Mary. Much before that, in 1920, Dr Mary Poonen proved her mettle by performing the state’s first caesarean surgery. The C-section was performed on her namesake Mary, a native of Kundamankadavu, considering her history of losing three children soon after birth. The fourth child – Michael Shavarimuthu – was delivered through the state's first C-section, and went on to live till the age of 98.

In 1917, Dr Mary Poonen married lawyer KK Lukose, who was later appointed a judge of the High Court of Travancore. Her husband and both children, KP Lukose, a diplomat, and Grace Lukose, a doctor, preceded her in death. Dr Mary Poonen died in 1976, a year after the country honoured her with Padma Shri.