Laxmi Bai, Wife of Ex-MEA Shiv Shankar Passes Away at 94

Hyderabad: Laxmi Bai Shiv Shankar, wife of former Union Minister and Governor P. Shiv Shankar, breathed her last in the early hours on Thursday. She was 94. She is survived by a daughter and a son, Dr. Vinay, a senior surgical Gastroenterologist.

Born into a family of scholars, Laxmi Bai was the maternal niece of the internationally renowned violinist, Dwaram Venkateswamy Naidu. Her father, originally from Yelamanchili in Vizag district, had moved to Jeypore in Odisha.

Making history as the first woman graduate of the Odisha State, Laxmi Bai completed her BA from Utkal University and later pursued her MA through postal service from Banaras Hindu University.

While she gained popularity as the perfect host during her husband's tenures as the External Affairs Minister and the Governor of Sikkim and Kerala, Laxmi Bai Shiv Shankar's personal accomplishments were truly remarkable.

In a testament to her unwavering pursuit of knowledge, she accomplished two PhDs and a D.Litt between the ages of 80 and 90 years. At the age of 87, one of her PhDs from Osmania University on 'Bhagavad Gita and its relevance to the modern-day man' earned her not only a gold medal but also a lifetime achievement award. Remarkably, this nearly 5,000-page dissertation was completely handwritten by her at the age of 80, and she later had the manuscript typed before submitting it to the University.