E. V. R. Maniammai

Erode Venkatappa Ramasami Maniammai (10 March 1917 – 16 March 1978) was a Dravidian social activist and politician. She was the second wife of Periyar and succeeded him as the president of the Dravidar Kazhagam upon his death in 1973.

E. V. R. Maniammai
President of the Dravidar Kazhagam
In office 25 December 1973 – 16 March 1978
Preceded by	Periyar
Succeeded by	K. Veeramani
Personal details
Born	(1917-03-10)10 March 1917 Vellore, Madras Presidency, British India (present-day Tamil Nadu, India)
Died	16 March 1978(1978-03-16) (aged 61) Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
Resting place	Periyar Ninaividam
Political party	Dravidar Kazhagam
Other political affiliations	Justice Party and INC
Spouse	E. V. Ramasami (daughter turned wife) ​ ​ (m. 1948; died 1973)​
Occupation	Politician social activist

Biography

Maniammai was born as Kanthimathi to Kanagasabai Mudaliar, who was a member of the Justice Party.^[1][2] Soon after her father's death, she joined the Dravidar Kazhagam founded by Periyar in 1942–1943. Sources close to Periyar had indicated that Maniyammai, being a woman, could not be named his heir. So he took to the recourse of marrying her so that she could become his legal heir.^[3] His marriage with a much younger Maniammai and his appointment of her as his successor shocked many of his party leaders.^{[4][5][6][7][8][9]}