Justice Anna Chandy became the first female judge (1937), and then judge of the High Court (1959).Anna Chandy was born in 1905 in a house in Panavelil and raised in Trivandrum.

 She then became the first woman in her state to get a law degree since completing her postgraduate degree in 1926. From 1929, she practiced as a barrister while supporting the cause of women's rights concurrently, most notably in Shrimati, a publication she founded and wrote.

In 1937, Sir C.P. Ramaswami Iyer, the Dewan of Travancore, named Anna Chandy as a munsif at Travancore. This made her the first female judge in India, and she was promoted to the District Judge rank in 1948. 

Once appointed to the Kerala High Court on 9 February 1959, she became the first female judge in an Indian high court. In that office she worked until April 5, 1967.

Anna Chandy served on India's Law Commission, and wrote an autobiography, Atmakatha (1973). Anna Chandy was first female high court judge in India as well as in the Commonwealth.


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