Monday, August 16, 2010
Janaki Venkataraman, former first lady of India and widow of former president Ramaswamy Venkataraman, died at 89 Saturday, around around 4:30 p.m. local time (11:00 UTC).
Her family members said she was admitted to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in New Dehli on August 10, 2010 with complaints of chest infection.
Venkataraman was first lady from 1987 to 1992. She was widowed in January 2009 when Ramaswamy died at 98.
Pratibha Patil, current president of India, paid tribute to Venkataraman in a letter to Padma Venkataraman, Janaki Venkataraman’s daughter. She wrote, “As a first lady of the country she has performed her role with utmost grace and dignity during the tenure of R. Venkataraman.”
She had three daughters, Padma, Vijaya and Ramachandran Venkataraman.