Janaki Ammal

Janaki Ammal Edavaleth Kakkat was an Indian botanist who conducted scientific research in cytogenetics and phytogeography. Her most notable work involves those on sugarcane and the eggplant. She has collected various valuable plants of medicinal and economic value from the rain forests of Kerala.

Janaki Ammal was born in 1897 in Tellichery, Kerala. Her father was Dewan Bahadur Edavalath Kakkat Krishnan, subjudge of the Madras Presidency. She had six brothers and five sisters. In her family, girls were encouraged to engage in intellectual pursuits and in the fine arts, but Ammal chose to study botany. After schooling in Tellichery, she moved to Madras where she obtained the bachelors degree from Queen Marys College, and an honours degree in botany from Presidency College in 1921. Under the influence of teachers at the Presidency College, Ammal acquired a passion for cytogenetics.

Source: Wikipedia