Kodagina Gowramma

Gowramma (1912–1939), better known as Kodagina Gowramma, was an Indian writer who wrote in Kannada and lived in Kodagu. She was a feminist and supporter of the Indian Freedom Movement.

Life Gowramma was born in 1912 to N.S Ramayya and Nanjamma in Madikeri and married to B. T. Gopal Krishna of Somwarpet taluk in Kodagu, then known as Coorg, a province in British India.

She drowned in a whirlpool, aged 27, on 13 April 1939. A volume of Gowramma's stories was published as Mareyalagada Kathegalu and prefaced by Kannada writer Vaidehi. ".

Kannada critic and writer MS Asha Devi has said, "She was completely influenced by Gandhi and believed that it was possible for people to change society through love, sacrifice and non-violence. She was boldly experimental. She edited the first woman’s short story collection, called Rangavalli. [...] As for her own stories, DR Bendre described them best when he called them khatu-madura, something which would translate to 'bittersweet' in English. She was one of our most important writers, but then, she never got the credit she deserved." Poet D. R. Bendre composed a poem "Tangi Gouramma" about her and her death, published in 1958.

Legacy Family members have created the Kodagina Gowramma Endowment Award to support writers.